One marquee player who had surprisingly made little impact up until yesterday was Sergio Garcia, who entered yesterday’s third round of the Buick Classic at 2-over, having barely made the cut.
A 3-over 74 in the first round had the usually ebullient Garcia grumbling. “I was hitting the ball well. I don’t know what took place,” Garcia said Thursday. “I’ll keep trying. I’ll keep practicing the course. I’m still young. I’m 20. Maybe when I’m 35 I’ll get it.”
Yesterday – still at age 20 – Garcia got it, carding a scorching 6-under 65 – the round of the week – to catapult himself into contention, three shots behind defending champion Duffy Waldorf at 4-under, entering today’s final round at Westchester CC.
“This was a great boost of my confidence,” Garcia said. “It gave me a great lift. Now I’ve got myself into a good position.”
Garcia climbed up the leaderboard and has a chance to be a major factor today. He was nine shots back after the first round and 11 back after Friday.
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Waldorf will tee off last today with Phil Mickelson (6-under) at 1:45 p.m., and it’ll be the fourth time of his career at Westchester that he’ll have played in the final Sunday pairing.
Ernie Els and Chris Perry (both 6-under) are next-to-last, David Duval and John Cook (6-under) are third-to-last.
Waldorf, famous for writing on his golf balls, said he used three inscribed balls in yesterday’s round. One read: “Putting machine,” another read: “Happy days,” and the third read: “In a New York minute everything can change.”
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Cook, who’s had a miserable year (126th on the money list), said he wouldn’t blame anyone who overlooked him today despite him being only one shot back with so many stars near the top.
“I wouldn’t blame them. I haven’t done crap this year,” Cook said. “But I’ve been out here long enough and won some tournaments, so I’m not going to back down from anyone.”
Cook, who gets help on his game from CBS analyst Ken Venturi,joked that he was missing so many cuts, he hadn’t had much of a chance to visit with Venturi, who doesn’t broadcast events until the weekend.
“I’ve missed so many cuts that I’ve been gone by the time he gets to town,” Cook said.
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Dennis Paulson, runner-up to Waldorf in last year’s Buick Classic, coughed up a two-shot lead yesterday with a 4-over 75 yesterday, leaving him two shots off the pace entering today’s final round.
The lowlight of Paulson’s round was a double bogey on the par-4 15. “I didn’t play very well,” Paulson said. “If you don’t make putts it’s the nature of the beast. I’ve got to go try to make some birdies [today].”
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This is Skip Kendall‘s U.S. Open. He won’t be at Pebble Beach this week, because he failed to qualify, but he’ll be watching the Open with interest.
“I’ll probably be watching my peers on TV,” Kendall said. “I’ll have some fun, play with my son and have a big old cocktail in front of the TV.”
Kendall, one shot behind Waldorf, is looking for his first PGA Tour victory in 106 career starts.
Steve Elkington withdrew before yesterday’s third round because of an ongoing sinus problem.