Roaring Rory Takes Command of The Honda Classic

Sabbatini looking for his 6th PGA win

Rory Sabbatini opened up a five shot lead in the third round of The Honda Classic. Despite only hitting just six fairways for the day, Sabbatini still managed to shoot four under, 66. Yesterday, Sabbatini shot 64 and tied the course record. For the week, he is ranked 1^st in birdies made, 1^st in putts per round, 3^rd in putts per green, and 1^st in sand saves—getting it up and down 100% of the time. Impressive considering he’s hit less than 50% of the fairways for the week. If Sabbatini continues to miss fairways and his putter cools off, those players he left in his rear view mirror today; won’t just appear to be closer than they look.    

Questionable ruling of the day:

Jerry Kelly

 On the par-4 6 sixth hole, Jerry Kelly’s layup out of the rough never landed. Instead, it was stuck in a palm tree. Though visible, he could not readily identify his ball. Under the rules of golf he would incurred a stroke and distance penalty (re-tee, hitting his third shot). But because a photographer was available, he took a picture of the ball with his digital camera and zoomed in on the image so that Kelly could have a better look. In doing so, Kelly said he could identify his ball. The rules officials did not appear convinced, but nonetheless, when the television coverage returned from commercial; he was able to take an unplayable lie penalty and not have to go back to the point where he last hit. Instead, he was given nearest point of relief (from the tree) and played to the green from there. Kelly went on to make bogey. 

Kelly's ball--6th Hole

Third Round Leaderboard:

1	Rory Sabbatini	-9
T2	Y.E. Yang	-4
T2	Jerry Kelly	-4
4	Gary Woodland	-3
5	Kyle Stanley	-2
T6	Charles Howell III	-1
T6	Matt Bettencourt	-1
T6	Tommy Gainey	-1
T6	Ricky Barnes	-1
T10	Jeff Overton	E
T10	Stuart Appleby	E

Ball striking, ball striking, ball striking

With playing conditions continuing to be difficult at The Honda Classic, ball striking will be imperative for players and mentioned throughout today’s broadcast. Here’s a look at the leaderboard and each player’s “ball striking” rank according to pgatour.com. Schwartzel and Barnes do not have enough rounds to be ranked and Westwood is not a member of the PGA Tour.

POS	PLAYER	SCORE	BALL STRIKING RANK
1	Kyle Stanley	-6	T25
2	Rory Sabbatini	-5	97
3	Charl Schwartzel	-3
T4	Ricky Barnes	-2
T4	Jerry Kelly	-2	64
T4	Stuart Appleby	-2	T127
T4	Tommy Gainey	-2	42
T8	Matt Kuchar	-1	T32
T8	Y.E. Yang	-1	82
T8	Gary Woodland	-1	13
T8	Spencer Levin	-1	50
T8	Lee Westwood	-1

Saturday storylines

Westwood has eye on the prize

Number 1 is up for grabs:

 Lee Westwood is the most compelling story this weekend. He spit the bit on the back nine a little yesterday bogeying two of the last three holes, but he’s still well within range with conditions expected to be difficult for the final two rounds. This horse is battle tested and seriously motivated; expect him to be there down the stretch to reclaim his number one ranking.

The American:

Steady Eddie, Matt Kuchar continues to show why he’s the best American on tour at the moment. 

Rookie nerves:

Should be interesting to see how q-school graduate, Kyle Stanley handles the pressure. Stanley has plenty of fire power and array of shots, but has never held a lead heading into the weekend.

Low South African:

Rory Sabbatini hasn’t won since the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship and Charl Schwartzel is a PGA “rookie.” Sabbatini has been lacking confidence of late, while Schwartzel’s form has been surging in Europe. Expect Schwartzel to show why he’s playing for the big money as full-time member of the PGA.

Tommy Two Gloves

The last time Tommy Gainey showed up on the leaderboard, he put two consecutive balls in the water and blew a chance to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Let’s see if two gloves give him a better grip on the weekdent.

Weir fails to make good on major medical exemption

Weir wondering what the future holds

Mike Weir, winner of the 2003 Masters, has lost his exempt status on the PGA. Weir’s 2010 season was cut short after tearing a ligament in his elbow and needed make $227,885 in just five starts in 2011 to keep his status. Weir fell woefully short in that effort, making just one cut and a paltry $10,788.00. The southpaw from Canada will rely on sponsor exemptions as well as play in tournaments in which he is a past champion to fill out the remainder of the season.

Kyle Stanley takes one shot lead into the weekend

 

Q-school graduate, Kyle Stanley needed just 26 putts in route to a four under 66 to leap frog Rory Sabbatini after two rounds of The Honda Classic. Still, the best round of the day goes to Rory Sabbatini with a six under 64. Charl Schwartzel (-3) was poised to make a run at the Stanley before bogeying three of his last four holes. Notables lurking are Matt Kuchar (-1) and Lee Westwood (-1), who can reclaim his number one in the world spot with a third place finish. 

1	Kyle Stanley	-6
2	Rory Sabbatini	-5
3	Charl Schwartzel	-3
T4	Ricky Barnes	-2
T4	Jerry Kelly	-2
T4	Stuart Appleby	-2
T4	Tommy Gainey	-2

Fantasy picks after two rounds:

T8	Lee Westwood	-1
T29	Fredrik Jacobson	2
T43	Brian Gay	4
T43	Graeme McDowell	4

Anniversary Of The Blimp Shot

Frank Chirkinian passed away in his home today just months before he was to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was 84.

Here’s a piece ESPN did on his idea to put a camera in the blimp:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4787763

Wind cheater

Rory Sabbatini

Rory Sabbatini’s six under, sixty-four in extreme wind conditions in the second round of The Honda Classic is not only a tremendous effort, but ties the course record as well. The outspoken South African made seven birdies and one bogey. Equally as impressive, is that Sabbatini navigated the “Bear Trap” in two under par. Recently, Sabbatini missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open, but bounced back last week with a T5 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. His last win was in 2009 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Sabbatini is three shots clear of the field, with the second half of the draw on the course.

The American

Photo by Alex Boerner, ALEX BOERNER

Vardon trophy winner, Matt Kuchar continues to make a strong case as the best American player on the PGA. Some pundits might go with Bubba Watson, who has already won this season; but Kuchar has a serious body of work—last year, he won the Vardon Trophy for lowest stroke average, topped the money list, and was second in the Fedex race. He also made 23 cuts in 26 starts and had 20 top 25’s. This year, Kuchar has made five starts, made the cut in each, and has four top tens. In just five events, he’s just about made a quarter of what he made last year ($4.9m).

"Par is going to be a good score on ANY hole this afternoon"--Mark Rolfing

2011 Honda Classic: First round
Twelve players were still left on the course when the horn blew at 6:25 p.m. ET, but the story of the day was the wind. Gusting up to 40 mph at some points, the course playing a stout three shots over par, The Honda Classic turned into the US Open. 58 balls found a watery grave in the three hole stretch known as the “Bear Trap,” five players shot 80 or better, and two players withdrew. Notables lurking are Matt Kuchar (-1), Lee Westwood (E), and 54 year old Nick Price (E). Forever known as a premier ball striker, Price turned back the hands of time if just for a round. Players will see the same conditions tomorrow as the wind is expected to continue to pump. If it does, expect more carnage. 

1	Spencer Levin	-3
T2	Stuart Appleby	-2
T2	Charl Schwartzel	-2
T2	Kyle Stanley	-2
T2	Greg Chalmers	-2
T2	Y.E. Yang	-2

Graeme McDowell on the wind:

@Graeme_McDowell Graeme McDowell

Feel like a just spent 5 hours in the tumble drier!!!! That was pretty brutal out there.

Meet Charl Schwartzel

Schwartzel is not a name those in the states might recognize; but now that he’s playing full time on the PGA Tour this year, you’ll be seeing his name quite a bit. Born and raised in the RSA, Schwartzel started his professional career on the European Tour in 2002 and as amassed €7,392,931 in earnings to date. Last year, he finished 8^th in the “Race to Dubai,” the European equivalent to the PGA’s Fedex Cup. He’s won at least one event on the European Tour since 2005, including two in 2010 and won the Joburg Open in South Africa early this year. Schwartzel made his first start in the states at the Accenture Match Play last week and was dismissed in the second round. He is in the field at the Honda Classic and is one shot off the lead at -2.

As predicted...

there are two rounds in the eighties so far as conditions continued to be difficult--Nick O'Hern (81) and Sunghoon Kang (84).