Golf Talk

Some players made a move up the leaderboard, others moved down in the third round of the 2007 US Open at Oakmont. Overall, the course played very well and the greens were fair. Tiger Woods was the big mover getting to second place all by himself at 4-over, Aaron Baddeley also grabbed the lead and held on to it at 2-over. Second round leaders Angel Cabrera and Bubba Watson went the other direction, but they’re still in position for Sunday. The scores are all bunched up and the final script will be a good one on Sunday.

The Leaders

Tiger Woods had that look of determination from the first tee and he proceeded to move up. In fact, if it weren’t for 5 or so putts that hung on the lip, Tiger would’ve shot a 64, he was something like 17 for 18 GIR. Instead, he ended up with a 1-under 69, good for second place all by himself playing in the final pair on Sunday. His partner is Aaron Baddeley, who as I predicted yesterday as having a strong chance to contend played with absolutely no fear. We all knew he was a good putter, but he was smashing the ball long and straight all day. It will be fun to watch him and Tiger go head-to-head, though I think Aaron will need to get over the intimidation factor of playing with Tiger. My prediction is that Tiger wins by one or two shots.

There is a logjam at 5-over with Paul Casey, Stephen Ames, Justin Rose, and Bubba Watson all tied for third. Paul played well early but had some consecutive bogeys that hurt him late. Stephen was stroking it all day, it would’ve been hard to duplicate his 69. Justin Rose putted extremely well, but found the rough and bunkers too much. Bubba was good for 17 of 18 holes but hurt himself badly on the 9th hole with a triple. I’d compare Bubba to John McEnroe, extremely temperamental and lets his temper control him instead of the other way around, it’s absolutely hurting his game and concentration. Props for sticking with it though and finishing well, Bubba lead for about 20 minutes during his round. Of all these four, I like Paul Casey and Justin Rose, they both have the potential to make a move to the top.

The Rest Of The Field

As for the other players, Furyk birdied 17 and 18 to get to within 4 shots at 6-over, he’s such a grinder. I think if he can shoot 2-under, and everyone else struggles, and Tiger shoots par, he can get himself into a playoff.

Angel Cabrera struggled today, tee shots were wild, he ended up doing too much scrambling. Fasth was right there with like 5 holes left but let it all slip away.

Steve Stricker was 2-under today and had the best round of the day, he’s at 6-over and is someone to keep an eye on for Sunday. Vijay Singh will finish in the top 10 I believe, but is too far at 8-over to make a move, unless he shoots a Johnny Miller 63.

I like the way Ernie Els is playing, he’s not in contention at 13-over, but I think his game is coming around, maybe the British Open or PGA he’ll be back to the Ernie of old.

My pool is looking really strong, I have Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, Bubba Watson and Charles Howell III. CH3 is the only one that isn’t in contention right now.

Other Notes

I’m not sure why people are surprised at the number of international contenders. I thought it was common knowledge that the international player is catching up to the Americans. Hell, Jack Nicklaus has said as much last week at the Memorial. Is there some American arrogance and ignorance involved? Sure, I think it’s a similar situation you have with basketball. Americans think they own the game of basketball, yet they’ve lost the olympics and world championships the last few years. It’s time to deal with reality, the international player is here to stay, and it may become the norm rather than the exception that an international player wins the US Open.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods, Aaron Baddeley