Notes and Quotes: A lefty is definitely lurking – The Memorial Tournament
COLUMBUS, Ohio - If Lefty No. 1 ain't cutting it, maybe Lefty No. 2 can. Phil Mickelson was spinning his wheels in the Memorial, but Mike Weir, former Masters champ, has got the tournament right where he wants it.Weir shot a 4-under 68 Saturday to tie for second, three shots behind Matt Goggin. This is fine by him.
He's won eight times, and took seven of them after trailing going into the final round. And that includes the 2003 Masters, when he was two back and shot a 68 in the final round. In fact, 2003 was his big year for heroics. He won three times coming from behind in that year.
Would it help that it was Goggin and not Tiger Woods in front of him?
“Well, yeah, that's a little different,” said Weir, drawing a ripple of laughter from the media corps. “But you know, you have to win some time. And sometimes a guy, when he hasn't won, is hungry and wants to do it. And inexperience or not, Mat's been around a long time. I think that helps him in conditions like this. But, do I think my experience will help? Yeah, I do.”
Weir has played in eight Memorials, and has two top-five finishes. A win here will make him the winningest Canadian in PGA Tour history. He's currently tied with George Knudson with eight titles.
And about winning from behind seven times?
“I don't know why that is,” Weir said. “But there might be something to that. For some reason, I've been able to shoot some final good rounds coming from two, three, four behind. Hopefully I can do it again.”
FRONT FAILING -- Goggin has led a tournament six times, including the first three rounds of this Memorial, and is still looking for his first win.
AMAZIN' GRACE - Nick Watney opened with a 68, blew to an 80 in the second round, then bounced back with another 68 Saturday. Without a bogey. “I'm not even sure what happened,” said Watney, baffled by the 80. “It was just one of those days I was really off. So depending on tomorrow [Sunday], I could look back on it as a day that cost me. But at the same time, it happened and you just got to go forward.”
HOPE SPRINGS - Stuart Appleby isn't setting Muirfield Village afire, not with 68-76-72 and sitting five shots off the lead. But he refuses to count himself out.
“No one's doing anything,” Appleby said. “It's just sitting around and no one can really get out front. The course won't let them, really. And there's enough good players that probably aren't going to go backwards. So there may be someone who just breaks away and who has a 4-under tomorrow. But it will be one person I would think that just pokes his head out and gets out.”
MERRY OLDE ENGLAND -- If Justin Rose, tied for second going into the final round, would become the first Englishman to win the Memorial, if he can break through. In fact, it would be his career-first on the Tour.
COMING UP ON THE OUTSIDE -- He's a longshot, but J.B. Holmes has moved up the leaderboard to the point where he could win. Shooting 74-69-70, he tied for 60th, 17th, and now 8th going into the final round. But he's five shots off the lead, which matches the biggest come-from-behind in tournament history. Three players have done in -- David Edwards in 1992, Jim Furyk in 2002, and K.J. Choi in '07.
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