Crowd awaits Woods and Mickelson

Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Sunday, September 12, 2010

It’s less than one hour before the marquee pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson tees off the first hole at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, and the crowd is filing in.

The world’s top two players tee off in the 107th Western Open – or the BMW Championship, if you’re watching NBC – at 10:56 a.m. CT, and the great majority of the gallery will be with them. The final group, leader Ryan Moore and contender Dustin Johnson, start at 12:45 p.m. Moore’s at 8-under, Johnson’s at 7-under. Charlie Wi and Matt Kuchar, also at 7-under, start at 12:35 p.m.

The day’s first twosome, D.J. Trahan and Angel Cabrera, teed off at 7:30 a.m. and were finished by 9:57 a.m., with Cabrera’s even par 71 allowing him to finish at 13-over 297. Trahan, at 301, could end up last in the field of 70.

The weather is perfect, with nary of breath of wind, and accessible pins on the early holes. The cups on the 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th are tucked rather tightly.

Updates as warranted, and a full report after the round.

– Tim Cronin

Throwback Moore leads crowded field entering final round

Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 11, 2010

“I’m here to win the Western Open,” Ryan Moore said.

Then he’s come to the right place. The final round of the 107th Western Open is Sunday at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. Western Golf Association and PGA Tour officials call it the BMW Championship these days, since the German motorcycle and car maker is paying the tab, but beneath the white canvas veneer, it’s still the Western Open at heart.

And Moore is the type of fellow who can see through the stage set. A student of golf history, he’s gone about Dubsdread wearing a sweater and tie this week. He’s also gone around in fewer strokes than anyone else. Saturday, under light rain and gloomy skies, and before a less than capacity crowd, he scored 5-under-par 66 and stands at 8-under-par 205 through 54 holes, a stroke better than Matt Kuchar, Charlie Wi and Dustin Johnson.

For Moore, the last year has been a return to the form he showed during his amateur career, especially in 2004, when he won almost everything he entered, including the Western Amateur, at Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club in Millburg, Mich.

“It was a great event,” Moore said. “I only played it one time, and I’d always wanted to. I was on a limited schedule, so I saved up some money. It was a long week, 72 holes of stroke play and 16 players in match play. You’re very tired at the end of it, very, very tired.”

Moore looks fit as a fiddle with a round to go in the quest for his second win on the PGA Tour, not to mention stylish. With the deep red cardigan sweater and white tie he sported on Saturday, Moore lacked only a watch fob in his pocket to look like the second coming of Willie Anderson, the Western’s first four-time winner.

“Bobby Jones is pretty classic with the look,” Moore said. “Who was another one? Sam Snead I always liked. It’s just that general look, though. It’s not after somebody specifically.”

At 58th in the PGA Tour’s season point standings, Moore’s believed by the computer projection to need to finish fourth or better to secure a top-30 placing and a berth in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta two weeks from now. Thankfully for his sake, he’s playing as good as he’s looking.

Moore rebounded from Friday’s 3-over 74, chopping eight strokes off that number in the course of making six birdies and only one bogey. For Moore, the big swing came on the seventh hole, where he bellied a wedge into the cup for birdie from the fringe, a better play than the putt that prompted a double-bogey on the same hole on Friday.

“I learned my lesson,” Moore said.

Moore also birdied the first, fourth, ninth – allowing him to go out in 4-under 31 – 10th and 15th holes. Only on the par-4 13th, where he found a bunker where birdies go to die, did he bogey. A one-putt birdie on the par-5 15th was followed by three pars to finish.

For Moore, winning at Quail Hollow in 2009 was the first proof that he’d come back from a serious injury to his left hand that occurred during the 2005 U.S. Open, his final tournament as an amateur. The pain became worse and worse, and he finally needed surgery, followed by a long recovery path.

“My career took a detour,” Moore said. “Now I’m back to being consistent. Really, the last year and a half, maybe two years, I’ve started feeling a lot closer. Then it’s getting back the confidence side of it, too, because you’ve hit a lot of really bad golf shots for a long time, and you’re standing over every golf shot, and you look up and you think, I have no idea how it even went there.

“It’s not easy.”

Speaking of confidence, Dustin Johnson announced his presence with a 3-under 68 to join that crowd at 205. The man who tossed away a shot at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and then saw an apparent playoff berth in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits lost thanks to grounding his club in the bunker he didn’t know he was standing in, now has a shot to win the third-oldest championship open to professionals in the world.

“I love it,” Johnson said. “That’s why I’m out here, is to win. I’m not out here to just play. Any time you’ve got a chance to win, it’s a great opportunity.”

Johnson’s chance has come about thanks largely to a splurge of five straight birdies. And runs of that type are happening, he thinks, because he’s become more consistent in his play.

“My misses aren’t as bad anymore,” Johnson said. “When I miss the ball, I’m maybe just off the fairway or in a sand trap, whatever, but I’m not hitting any wild shots. I’m getting more consistent with my irons, getting them dialed in better. They’re on the green now instead of a spot where I can’t get up-and-down.”

Being in contention at the National Open and PGA would confirm that. Winning Sunday would underline it. Of course, there were those wild tee shots that led to a double and a triple – bogey, that is – at Pebble Beach, plus that tee shot right of sideways at the last at Whistling Straits, which brought about the fiasco in the bunker. That, Johnson gets nothing but love about.

“I hear, ‘It wasn’t a bunker’ every time, about every hole,” Johnson said. “That’s the one I get mostly.”

Wi and Kuchar, co-leaders through 36 holes, are are also a stroke back of Moore, and will play in the pairing directly in front of Moore and Johnson on Sunday. For Wi, it’s his second straight week in contention. He was tied for sixth entering the final round last week, and but shot 74 in the final round and tied for 18th.

He’ll want to follow Saturday’s 1-under 70 with something more spicy on Sunday.

“I know everybody is jockeying for position to get into the top 30 tomorrow on the FedEx Cup points list,” Wi said. “I know where I stand (37th through last week, 10th projected) and I know what I need to do (finish ninth or better), so it’s almost never-wracking knowing what you have to do and that if you don’t perform, you might not achieve that goal.

“It’s going to be a tough test of nerves and emotions out there, but that’s why we’re here and what we do.”

Kuchar, feeling much better from what might have been a bout of 24-hour flu, had three birdies and two bogeys. As Tiger Woods might say, he just plodded along. Considering he felt so bad the first two days he didn’t want to be there, he’s in good shape, on the board and otherwise.

“I wanted so bad to just pull out of the tournament and go home,” Kuchar said. “The last thing I wanted to do was be out here trying to play golf. But I’m very pleased with the way I’m feeling at the moment.”

There are 16 players within five strokes of Moore, with Ian Poulter and Paul Casey lurking two strokes back at 6-under 207, Ernie Els and Kevin Na at 5-under 208, Zach Johnson and Retief Goosen among those at 4-under 209, and no less than Steve Stricker, Tim Clark, Luke Donald and Justin Rose hanging around at 3-under 210.

That’s what’s known as a logjam. Meanwhile, eight strokes back at even par 213, and paired together at 10:56 a.m. Sunday, are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the duo occupying the No. 1 and No. 2 places in the world rankings. Remember them?

– Tim Cronin

10:56 a.m. Sunday: Woods, Mickelson and a cast of thousands

Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 11, 2010

Zero Hour on Sunday in Lemont is 10:56 a.m.

That’s when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson meet on Dubsdread’s first tee, their first pairing together since a tournament in Singapore last year.

Woods and Mickelson stand at even par 213 through 54 holes, and the timing of their finishes in Saturday’s third round at Cog Hill brings them together on Sunday morning.

The public is invited.

The public will likely be on hand. The top two players in the world ranking, winners of 22 major championships between them – including four U.S. Amateurs – one of them bathed in scandal and the other seen sympathetically because of the illness of his wife and mother, plus a recently disclosed arthritic ailment, they’re walking soap operas. “As the World No. 1 and 2 Turns,” or something like that.

Mickelson has bested Woods five of the last seven times they’re played head-to-head, with one win by Woods and a deadlock, according to CBS Sportsline’s Steve Elling. In their pro careers, Woods leads 11-10-4 in PGA Tour tournaments in head-to-head showdowns.

And, oh by the way, they’re both trying to secure a spot in the Tour Championship, to be conducted in Atlanta a fortnight hence. Woods is projected at 44th entering Sunday, and only the top 30 advance. Mickelson is projected 14th, so should be safe, but isn’t guaranteed if he goes haywire in the final round on a course he doesn’t prefer.

“I’d like to just get a good round,” Mickelson said before the pairing was set. “I’ve hit a lot of good shot this week and I just haven’t gotten a good score out of it. I’d like to just get a good round to give me some momentum.”

Woods scored 3-under 68 on Saturday, three strokes better than Mickelson. He’ll probably need something much lower on Sunday. One estimate has Woods six strokes away from qualifying.

“As of now, it looks like probably 61 or 62 might have to be the number,” Woods said.

Woods set the Dubsdread record of 62 on Saturday last year. This year, the best round is a 64, posted by Matt Kuchar on Thursday.

“Hopefully I can give myself 18 looks at it (birdie), and see what happens,” Woods said.

Plenty of other people will also be looking.

The numbers game

One. That’s what Sean O’Hair scored on the par-3 second hole, acing it with a 4-iron from 211 yards out. That led to another number: 100,000, as in the number of dollars BMW donated to the Evans Scholars Foundation over and above the commitment it’s had since joining as the title sponsor in 2007. It was the 40th ace in Western Open history, and third on Dubs’ second hole.

Another interesting number Saturday was 7,364, the number of yards the par-71 course was set for. That brought forth a third-round scoring average of 71.214, and an aggregate average of 71.700 through 54 holes. The par-4 18th hole (4.329) was the toughest on Saturday, and par-5 15th (4.543), as usual, the easiest, though Charley Hoffman, who made a 7, would argue the point.

Then there’s 347. That’s the number of yards Rory McIlroy hammered his drive on the 13th hole on Saturday, the longest drive of the day. He parred the hole.

John “J.B.” Holmes’ 361-yard poke on the 13th on Friday is the week’s longest. He made a triple-bogey 7.

Around Dubsdread

The early start, rainy forecast, actual rain, and Woods and Mickelson both off the pace and playing separately made for the smallest weekend crowd for the Western in years. It might not have been more than 15,000, even when people in corporate suites are considered. That would be the smallest Saturday crowd since an estimated 22,000 turned out on July 4, 1992. ... Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. with D.J. Trahan and Angel Cabrera. ... NBC presents “Fairway to the Future,” a 30-minute special focusing on the Evans Scholars Foundation, Sunday at 12:30 p.m. It’s produced by BMW, and features three caddies from the north and west suburbs. BMW bought network air time in 13 cities, including Chicago (WMAQ-Ch. 5), New York and Los Angeles. ... Cog Hill’s version of a merchandise fire sale arrives on Sunday, and only on Sunday: Buy one shirt or pullover, and get the second at half price. It’s the first such deal in memory by the Jemsek-owned course.

– Tim Cronin

Lapp: Lack of roots cause of Dubsdread's trouble

Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 10, 2010

Cog Hill Golf & Country Club course superintendent Ken Lapp said Saturday that he began to get “really concerned” about the state of Dubsdread’s greens “about three weeks ago.”

He also said that, because of a tough spring for weather, followed by a hot, wet summer, it had been difficult for the greens, no more than a year old in terms of growth seasons, to mature.

“We had rain, heat, then more rain, and then it was 95 degrees,” Lapp said. “When you get all that rain early in the spring, you lose your roots.”

Grass then tends to find water by going in the other direction, up, and it can die. Cog Hill’s greens didn’t get to that extreme, but they’re not great, especially, Lapp said, the fourth, sixth and 13th greens. And from those have come the cascade of player complaints that have echoed around Dubsdread.

“It’s been a rough summer,” Lapp said. “When the weather broke (a couple of weeks ago), it got tremendously better.”

The PGA Tour called in turf expert Paul Vermillion to assist Lapp, and Vermillion’s trick of replacing areas of green with what Lapp called “bricks” helped the cause. Turf on the edges of some greens was also replaced. Still, pros playing for $7.5 million demand perfection and didn’t get it. Hence, the complaints.

“Grass is a living thing,” Lapp said. “It’s only going to take so much.”

Lapp, echoing the comments of Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek, said the SubAir system that was installed in conjunction with Dubsdread’s $5.2 million renovation helped “at certain times.”

The bad form makes next year a critical year for Cog Hill. It’s the last year the Western Open – whether under BMW’s name or not – is contracted for the course. In 2012, the Western will be a Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., near Indianapolis. After that, Chicago’s likely, but not sure, and Cog Hill’s in the same spot.

“We would look at every option,” Western Golf Association CEO John Kaczkowski said. “This (conditioning) is a one-off, but 20 years of goodwill with the players is gone.”

The WGA may recommend to Cog Hill that Lapp be given a full-time assistant, or perhaps contract with Vermillion to consult on the agronomy of Dubsdread. Lapp, who spends almost all of his time tending to Dubsdread, has a large staff, including superintendents for the other three courses.

To Stewart Cink’s comment Friday that the greens were “minus-3” on a one-to-10 scale should be added this: He said he was “echoing the comments” of Zach Johnson. Both are among the least quotable players in golf.

Johnson quipped after his Saturday round, “That’s under par,” adding of the condition, “It’s just unfortunate. I’m from the midwest, we’ve had extreme cold, then extreme heat, and it doesn’t help the golf courses at all.”

There was more from Cink, as first reported by Steve Elling of CBS Sportsline: “It’s too hard for the average player. And anybody good enough to play it knows what a wreck it is. The course is length on top of length op top of length.”

And the Associated Press got this from Geoff Ogilvy: “The short answer is it’s just not that enjoyable to play. Look, if your mission is to really punish a slightly bad shot and make it really hard all day, then it’s a success. If your mission is to create a place people enjoy playing, then it’s a failure.”

In fact, that was the mission. Rees Jones refurbished the course, originally designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, to be tough enough to host a U.S. Open. Mike Davis, the competition guru of the United States Golf Association, says it can do that. Whether the UGSA competition committee ever decides to come to Cog Hill, given its location in Cook County, is another story.

Players generally hate Rees Jones’ redos because they’re extremely difficult, as a U.S. Open is supposed to be the toughest test in golf. Ogilvy should know that. He won, or at least backed into, the Open thrown away by Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot.

With better weather, there would have been no controversy over conditioning. With a few more years maturation, there might not have been any even with bad weather. That leaves the multiple tiering of the greens, a Wilson specialty that Jones accentuated. If the players don’t like putting from one section to another, perhaps they should hit more precise approach shots.

As Ben Hogan once said when asked by a player how to make more long putts: “Hit the ball closer to the hole.”

An ace and a scholarship

Sean O’Hair aced the second hole, which was playing 211 yards on Saturday to a back right pin placement. He followed that achievement, the 40th ace in Western Open history, with a double-bogey 6 on the third, giving back the two shots he gained. It’s the first hole-in-one in the Western since Sergio Garcia and Bart Bryant made aces at Bellerive Country Club in 2008, and the first at Cog Hill since a trio of them, by Mike Small, Lucas Glover and Scott Hoch, in 2004. Glover’s came on the second hole as well.

That brings a $100,000 bonus from BMW to the WGA’s Evans Scholars Foundation. BMW gives an extra $100,000 to the foundation for each ace in the tournament.

Moore, Wi leading

As of 2 p.m., Ryan Moore has finished at 8-under 205, with Charlie Wi 8-under with three holes to play.

Updates as warranted. A complete report at the conclusion of play.

– Tim Cronin

Rain doesn't put damper on early arrivals

Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 11, 2010

They’re off and running under a light rain – sometimes a heavy drizzle – in the third round of the 107th Western Open, and there are people watching.

Never let it be said that the real Chicago golf fan isn’t hardy. The casual spectator may pack up his folding stool after Labor Day, but the real fan turns out, poncho at the ready, umbrella in hand, and that was the case Saturday morning.

Even as the various BMWs speckled around Dubsdread were rained on, the gallery hugged the ropelines to watch Tiger Woods tee off on the 10th, and nearly as many stood by the first tee 10 minutes later to see Phil Mickelson commence play.

That crowd, and the others making their way to various points of vantage, might have totaled 500, not including marshals, WGA officials, and other workers. And it’s a good sign, given the early start and finish dictated by NBC, which set the closing time for the third round of the officially-titled BMW Championship based on the kickoff of Notre Dame’s home football game with Michigan. You may have heard of that rivalry.

The leaders start at 9:15 a.m. It’ll be Matt Kuchar and Charlie Wi at 6-under, and Mark Leishman at 5-under, battling each other and, perhaps, the elements. It’s supposed to clear up later in the day, but Kuchar, battling the flu or something, is advised to bundle up.

Updates as warranted, and complete coverage at the conclusion of play.

– Tim Cronin