Final-round dogfight seen at 84 Lumber Classic
FARMINGTON – There’s one crimson blazer left, and a pack of hungry golfers dying to try it on. Things are about to get catty.
The final round of this, the final 84 Lumber Classic, is shaping up to be a dandy, with 18 players within four strokes of each other atop a crowded leaderboard.
Who will leave this swanky resort wearing the traditional winner’s jacket and holding the Fat Bird Trophy is still anybody’s guess.
As the tournament rounds the home stretch, not only for this year but for the foreseeable future, former British Open champion Ben Curtis and Charles Howell III sit at 12-under-par and lead a pack of relative unknowns after three rounds of play at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa.
“Just because Charles and I are ahead doesn’t mean that someone from behind us can’t come back and win,” Curtis said. “I think it’s (Mystic Rock) still going to be soft out there (on Sunday) and the greens are going to be soft and you’re going to have to shoot a good number.”
A soggy Mystic Rock was exploited again Saturday, as 29 golfers had rounds of 69 or better. For the third straight day, golfers were able to lift, clean and place their ball because of wet grounds.
The course conditions are in stark contrast from earlier in the week, when fairways were dry and greens were fast.
“The last couple years I’ve been here I’ve fallen in love with the place, but it’s been known that the greens were hard as rocks,” Howell said. “Even on Tuesday, the greens were so firm, to a point where I’m out here thinking, 8- to 10-under par is going to win this golf tournament easily if they stay like this. (Then) of course, it rains.
“The golf course completely flip-flopped from how it was on Tuesday to how it has been these last few days. So, it’s come from a point where you want to hit it high and hard to one where I actually had to kick it a little bit lower to take the spin out of it.”
Hunter Mahan, Robert Garrigus and Greg Owen each trail the lead by one stroke, with second-round co-leader Ryan Moore, Greg Kraft and Bo Van Pelt two shots back.
“It’s going to be fun tomorrow,” Garrigus said. “I’ve never been in this position out here. I did it a couple of times on the Nationwide Tour. This is a different stage, but you’ve just got to go out and do the same things.”
Last year, Jason Gore came to Mystic Rock a pauper and left a prince, when he held off Carlos Franco during the final round to win his first PGA Tour event.
Of the 13 players within three shots of the lead this year, nine are still searching for their first Tour win, and while Howell has picked up a victory, it came nearly four years ago.
Howell parted ways with long-time instructor David Leadbetter in March, but the rift didn’t last long, as the pair began working together again in mid-August.
Howell’s best finish this season was a tie for second place in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late April.
“It’s not like I’ve been in this position a bunch this year,” Howell said. “I have gone through quite a bit of swing changes, and the week of the PGA Championship, I got back with David and basically our goal from then until right now has been one or two things and keep it extremely simple.
“I’ve worked really hard to put a three-quarter type shot in my golf game. It’s something that I haven’t had and it’s something I’ve obviously been criticized for. So we’ve worked really hard on getting that.”
The work has apparently paid off, at least through 54 holes of the 84 Lumber Classic.
“I’ve hit it a whole bunch this week, even to the point where if I’m uncomfortable to do it, I still force myself to do it because I know it’s the right shot to hit.
“On top of that, practicing at home with Tiger (Woods), he’s been on me for a long time to learn that shot, so he’s helped me quite a bit with it, as well. If I can do it about as fifth as good as he can, I’ll be OK.”
Curtis started his round Saturday tied for the lead with Moore. He had back-to-back birdies on No. 5 and No. 6 to drop to 11-under, but he gave a stroke back on No. 10 with his only bogey of the round.
On the par-3, No. 13, Curtis birdied to get back to 11-under, and he shaved another stroke off his score with a birdie on No. 16, another par-5, to tie Howell for the lead.
“The ball, if it lands in the fairway, it’s staying in the fairway,” Curtis said. “I think that’s the biggest, most important thing out here. I think if you hit the fairway, then you give yourself a good chance to hit the green.
“I think the course plays a little bit shorter than the yardage (listed) for as wet as it’s playing. It just seems like you have a lot of 6-, 7- and 8-irons into these greens, and at our level with the greens like they are, you’re just firing at them.”
Howell began the third round a stroke off the lead at 8-under, but dropped to 10-under with birdies on No. 1 and No. 4. He remained at 10-under until back-to-back bogeys on the 11th hole, a par-5, and the 12th hole, a par-3.
But two straight birdies followed by an eagle on No. 16 put Howell in the lead by himself briefly.
Howell hit driver, 6-iron to within 20 feet of the cup, then made the putt for eagle on No. 16.
“My round was a bit up and down,” Howell said. “I got off to a very good start, with birdies on two of the first four holes, and than had two rather poor bogeys on No. 11 and 12. It was basically unforced bogeys. Anytime it’s a shootout-type golf tournament, which this has become with the soft greens, bogeys really hurt.
“There will be a lot of birdies made tomorrow. There’s a lot of good players at the top, there’s a lot of guys who haven’t won that are hungry to win. So it should be an exciting day.”
Charles Warren, Michael Allen, Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn and Jeff Gove are each at 8-under par.
Former 84 Lumber Classic winner Vijay Singh heads a group of five golfers six strokes off the lead.