Round 3 Notes – WGC - CA Championship
Play was suspended at 1:15 p.m. due to a dangerous situation. The 61players (out of 79) who did not finish their round will be back in position
at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The final round is expected to begin between 11:35
a.m. – 1:45 p.m. with threesomes off of split tees.
The only other tournaments affected by weather delays this season are the
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (15-minute frost delay on Saturday), the FBR Open
(frost delays each of the first three days) and the PODS Championship
(suspensions on Thursday and Friday due to dangerous situations).
When play was suspended for the day, Geoff Ogilvy (through 11 holes) sat at
14-under and one shot ahead of Adam Scott (through 11 holes). Should his
lead hold up, it will mark the second time in Ogilvy’s career he has held
the 54-hole lead. The first came at the 2005 Honda Classic when a
final-round 1-over 73 led to a T6 finish.
In 2008, the third-round leader/co-leader has won six of 11 stroke-play
events on the PGA TOUR, with the most recent being Tiger Woods’ victory at
the Arnold Palmer Invitational. At the WGC-CA Championship, the third-round
leader/co-leader has won six of eight times, including Ernie Els’ victory
in 2004 and Tiger Woods’ wins in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Tiger Woods had birdied or eagled the 529-yard first hole at the Doral Golf
Resort & Spa's Blue Course 18 consecutive times before he posted a par on
the hole Saturday. He has birdied or eagled the hole 20 of the 23 times he
has played it, including two eagles, 18 birdies and three pars. Before
Saturday, the last time Woods parred the hole was during the final round of
the 1998 Doral-Ryder Open.
At the time of the suspension, Vijay Singh (31 PGA TOUR victories, 22
International wins) was on his way to the round of the day, standing at
8-under through 16 holes and facing a seven foot putt for birdie on the
par-4 17th hole. Singh is joined in a tie for third place at 11-under by
Tim Clark (through 15 holes) and Tiger Woods (through 11 holes).
Thanks to eagles on Nos. 1 and 8, Daniel Chopra posted a 6-under 30 on the
front nine and then birdied the 10th hole to move to 7-under on the day and
9-under for the tournament. Things then took a turn for the worse for 2008
Mercedes-Benz Championship winner, as he bogeyed the par-4 11th hole and
posted a triple-bogey on the par-5 12th hole. He ended the day with a
3-under 69 and is currently nine shots behind Ogilvy.
Chopra had two of a total of 10 eagles which were posted prior to the
suspension, bringing the total for the week to 23. Last year, the Blue
Course gave up a mere 12 eagles.
Up for grabs in Sunday's final round are a total of 26,250 FedExCup points,
with 4,725 going to the winner. Tiger Woods is currently No. 1 in the
season-long competition with 13,725 points, 5,172 points ahead of Phil
Mickelson.
Tiger Woods will be seeking his sixth consecutive PGA TOUR victory and 65th
overall, which will move him out of a tie with Ben Hogan and into solo
possession of third place on the all-time wins list. The win would be the
seventh for Woods at the WGC-CA Championship, marking the first time he has
recorded seven wins in a single tournament. The tournaments Woods has won
six times are the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005,
2006, 2007); the WGC-CA Championship (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007);
and the Buick Invitational (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).
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