May 8 -- On a Saturday when a defenseless TPC Sawgrass golf course yielded low morning scores, Lee Westwood shot a ho-hum 2-under 68 to retain a one-stroke, 14-under lead over Robert Allenby after 54 holes of The Players Championship.
Westwood and Heath Slocum duked it out for most of the afternoon, until Slocum rinsed his tee shot short and left on the famed island-green 17th hole and made double-bogey.
Where did he come from? While the two were trading leads, Allenby seemed to come out of nowhere with an eagle-3 at 16, a bunch of birdies, and a 5-under 67 to power his way into sole possession of second place at 13-under.
Westwood had his share of erratic shots, including a right-ward tee shot on 18. But, as he did all day, he escaped by taking a drop from a drainage grate and hitting a crisp approach shot directly over the flag. A 34-foot, left-to-right breaking putt left him a tap-in for par.
Phil the Prophet. Phil Mickelson, who fired one of the day’s four rounds of 6-under 66 and sat at five off the lead heading into the final round, correctly predicted afternoon golfers would face a far tougher track as the wind picked up and the greens got firmer and speedier.
“As the round wore on it played progressively more difficult,” Mickelson told reporters after finishing his round with a less impressive back nine than the 31 on the front. “The greens were more receptive this morning and the course evolved like I thought it would in the afternoon. The greens are firmer and the balls are hard to get stopped. I don’t think the ball is rolling quite as true in the afternoon.”
Westwood concurred. “The greens were glassy,” the Englishman told CBS Sports’ Dan Patrick after his round. “I was surprised in the difference in the golf course...how much harder it was.”
Pencil grip. Fred Funk credited a new putter grip and driver with his 66 Saturday. The 53-year-old resident of Ponte Vedra, FL, home of TPC Sawgrass, could no longer tolerate his “just horrible” putting, so he changed to the pencil, or claw, grip Friday.
“The first round I putted poorly. I had a lot of opportunities and turned them into par,” Funk explained to reporters. “So I decided to go with the claw, or the pencil, of whatever you want to call it.”
Allenby employed the same grip, with almost as impressive results. With 25 putts in his third round, Allenby was tied for 23rd in putting accuracy. More to the point, he was tied for third in eagles and birdies.
Third time’s a charm. Using his third driver in three days, Funk said a TaylorMade Burner driver with less loft helped him crank his tee shots.
“I got a lot more distance today because I had the run out on it,” he said. “Trajectory-wise I was zipping it out there pretty good.”
Just drop it! A show of hands, please, of those who hate to agree with Johnny Miller about anything. He was right on, though, when he took Westwood to task for calling for assistance with a simple ball drop.
“I can’t believe a touring pro needs an official to help him with taking a drop from a cart path,” Miller complained.
Seriously, dude! Just take a club-length’s relief and drop the damn ball.
DFL. From the Where-have-you-gone-Tiger-Woods? department: The still-top golfer ranked last in driving distance among the 70 golfers who made the cut.
“Even Funk’s beating him,” noted CBS Sports.com’s Steve Elling in a Twitter post. “Pop-ups don’t go very far, do they?”
This, after Woods hit yet another Texas Leaguer off the 18th tee with a 3-wood on Saturday.
Pop up. “It’s certainly not very good,” Woods said to the media. “I’m trying to hit the ball low out there, and I’m actually so steep on it that I’m popping it up.”
Woods finished the day at 4-under after bogeys at 17 and 18, and 10 shots off the lead. Despite having no idea where his shots were going, Woods put a positive spin on his wayward game, noting that at least he was playing competitively.
“I just need more rounds,” said Woods. “You don’t turn this thing around overnight and then just go out there and play golf.”
Kiss it goodbye. Overheard by golf observer Paul Mahoney as Woods walked by: “Say so long to No. 1,” a seven-year-old boy taunted the scorned superstar, according to a Mahoney Twitter blast. “Kiss it goodbye.”
Mickelson, who would take over the top spot in golf’s world rankings with a win and a Woods finish no better than fifth, told the kid to be polite, Mahoney tweeted later. Could happen.
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