Golf Roundup: Fowler holds three-stroke lead at Memorial
Published 11:18 pm Saturday, June 5, 2010
DUBLIN, Ohio — Rickie Fowler knew rain-softened Muirfield Village was giving up birdies, even if there was none on his card as he approached the turn Saturday with his lead dwindling.
He pounced with a shot that showed his age — 21 — isn’t the only thing that sets him apart.
From a distance in the ninth fairway that typically called for a pitching wedge — 125 yards, slightly downhill to a front pin just beyond the water — Fowler opted for a punch 9-iron that would keep the ball from spinning too much and possibly going into the water.
“I wasn’t going to throw a pitching wedge and have the ball spinning very much,” Fowler said. “It was like a cut-off 9, start the ball left, try to hit it down and had a little cut in there.”
It stopped 6 feet behind the hole for his first birdie, and he was on his way.
Unfazed by six hours of rain delays or the 62 that Ricky Barnes shot — playing with Tiger Woods, no less — Fowler completed another round without a bogey and shot 3-under 69 to build a three-shot lead over Barnes and Tim Petrovic.
Now, he is one round away from joining the recent youth movement on the PGA Tour.
“I’m hitting the ball well,” Fowler said. “I kept it out of trouble, and I knew opportunities were coming around. It was a matter of waiting for them.”
Fowler was at 16-under 200 and had the largest 54-hole lead at the Memorial since Woods led by six shots in 2000.
Patience doesn’t seem to fit with the trend toward youth. Fowler will try today to become the third PGA Tour winner in the past six weeks at age 22 or under, joining Rory McIlroy, who won Quail Hollow two days before his 21st birthday, and Jason Day, who was 22 when he won the Byron Nelson Championship.
For the first time since Woods returned to competition, he refused to speak to the media. “I’m done,” he said to a PGA Tour official before walking over a bridge toward the locker room, stopping to sign a few autographs at the top of a hill.
Woods had a 69, which included a double bogey on the 10th hole when his tee shot went 45 degrees to the right and out-of-bounds, much like his tee shot on the 14th hole of The Players Championship that went into a pond on the adjacent hole.
He was at 6-under 210, tied for 20th. A four-time winner at the Memorial, Woods has not been this far out of the lead since he finished 17 shots behind in 1998.
Phil Mickelson, in his third tournament with a chance to become No. 1 in the world by winning, could only manage a 70 on a relatively easy day for scoring. The greens were soft from the rain and soft skies, and there was no wind. He was at 8-under 208.
Principal Charity Classic
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Nick Price topped the second-round leaderboard again in the Principal Charity Classic, shooting a 6-under 65 to match Tommy Armour III at 10-under 132 in the Champions Tour event at Glen Oaks Country Club.
Price lost the two years after holding at least a share of the second-round lead in the event. He three-putted the final hole in 2008 to hand the title to Jay Haas, then lost to Mark McNulty last year in a three-man playoff.
Wales Open
NEWPORT, Wales — Germany’s Marcel Siem shot a 5-under 66 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Wales Open, while Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher broke the course record with a 63.
NCAA Men’s Championship
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — An ill Taylor Floyd birdied the 18th hole of The Honors Course to win his match while Henrik Norlander eagled the 17th to take another and send Augusta State to its first NCAA tournament finals against powerhouse Oklahoma State.
Sixth-seeded Augusta State defeated Florida State 4-1.
The Jaguars are in the NCAA tournament for the 11th time while Oklahoma State, winner of 10 national titles, has appeared in every tournament in the championship’s 64-year history.
The top-seeded Cowboys defeated No. 5 Oregon 3-1-1 earlier Saturday as Trent Whitekiller beat Isaiah Telles 5 and 4 and Peter Uihlein and Morgan Hoffman grabbed 3-and-2 victories over Daniel Miernicki and Eugene Wong.
