HOT WEIR TAKES THE RAINS LEADER IS 17-UNDER PAR AFTER THREE ROUNDS AT WET RIVIERA.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer Weather-toughened Riviera Country Club The Riviera Country Club is a country club with a championship golf course. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California, within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. came back hard at the pack Saturday, when - with few exceptions - one of the best courses on the PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". did a number on one of the best tour fields of the early season. Mike Weir
Michael Richard Weir C.M., O.Ont. (born May 12, 1970) is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Weir was born in Brights Grove, Ontario, Canada. He attended St. handled rainy Riviera's cold and damp conditions best, outlasting the elements and concentration-sapping delays to fashion a 5- under-par 66 that left him with a Nissan Open-record 17-under-par 196 for 54 holes and five shots clear of his closest pursuer. ``My putter has just been on fire,'' said Weir, who made putts of 15, 15, 15, 18 and 25 feet Saturday. Second-place Shigeki Maruyama Shigeki Maruyama (born September 12, 1969) is a Japanese golfer. Maruyama was born in Chiba. He attended Nihon University and turned professional in 1992. He is known for his ever-present smile on the golf course which has given rise to his nickname of the "Smiling Assassin". , who shared the midway lead and 36-hole tournament record with Weir at 12-under 130, came away happy after a hard-earned 71 kept him 12 under at 201 - ahead of Jeff Maggert Jeffrey Allan Maggert (born February 20, 1964) is an American golfer. Maggert was born in Columbia, Missouri. He attended Texas A&M University and turned professional in 1986. (202), Scott McCarron Scott Michael McCarron (born July 10 1965) is an American professional golfer. McCarron was born in Sacramento, California and graduated from Christian Brothers High School. He has had PGA Tour victories in 1996, 1997 and 2001. (203) and Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts (born June 24 1955) is an American professional golfer. He was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High School and Cal Poly. , Stuart Appleby Stuart Appleby (born May 1 1971) is an Australian golfer. He was born in Cohuna, Victoria. Career summary Appleby is from Cohuna in rural northern Victoria. Appleby practiced by hitting balls from paddock to paddock. , Briny Baird Michael Jancey "Briny" Baird (born May 11, 1972) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour. Baird was born in Miami Beach, Florida. and John Daly John Daly is the name of:
``I'm very satisfied, 12 under par after three rounds,'' Maruyama said with the aid of an interpreter. ``It would be the victor's score usually.'' That was the premise before perfect scoring conditions Friday contributed to 65 second-round scores in the 60s - 22 of them 66 or lower - and left more than half of the weekend qualifiers at least 4-under par. But the course stormed back to win Saturday on nearly all fronts, as only Tim Clark Timothy Henry Clark (born 17 December 1975) is a South African golfer. Clark was born in Durban, South Africa. He took up golf at the age of three and was taught to play by his father. (64), J.J. Henry (65), Brandt Jobe (66) and Weir shot 66 or better, and 37 of the of the 78 golfers in the field failed to shoot as low as par. ``The cold and the wetness made the golf course play a little bit longer,'' said Maggert, who shot 69 Saturday. ``If you weren't hitting in the fairway, and hitting a lot of greens, it was tough to get a good score.'' Weir did that better than most, and it put him within striking distance of one of the older 72-hole records on tour - Lanny Wadkins' 1985 Nissan Open (then Los Angeles Open) record of 20-under 264. A 67 today would better that for Weir, who has started his week at Riviera 66-64-66. But Weir has been here before, leading a tournament after three rounds, and has yet to break through to win from that position. One of the better come-from-behind players on the tour, he is 0 for 5 when leading after three rounds. The defending Nissan Open champion and reigning Masters champion - a comeback winner in both of those events - said he is looking forward to relegating that 0-for-5 streak to history. ``I'm looking at it as a big challenge that I want to prove to myself I can handle,'' he said. ``You know, leading by five shots like I am, and go out there and play solid golf ... make whoever is challenging (today) really have to do something phenomenal to catch me.'' Several in his rear-view mirror are capable of that, even if few were able to demonstrate it during a wet third round. Maruyama, who offset four birdies with four bogeys Saturday, also once shot 58 in a U.S. Open qualifying tournament. Maggert had six third-round birdies, matching Weir's total, and he managed that despite the fact ``I played pretty sloppy the first nine holes.'' Former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX player McCarron, who shot 72 Saturday, is long off the tee, shot 61 in the 1991 Air Canada Championship The Air Canada Championship was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1996 to 2002. It was played at the Northview Golf & Country Club (Ridge Course) in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1996 as the Greater Vancouver Open. and is sure to have one of the really good galleries today when Bruins fans show up to lend him their typically strong weekend support. Appleby (70) won this year's Mercedes Championships, which brings together winners from last year's tour, and Roberts (69) has long been regarded as one of the tour's best putters - no small factor on Riviera greens that can be exceptionally difficult. Baird came within a stroke of tying the tournament and course 18-hole record with his second-round 62, Daly (72) has one of the best short games on tour and won nine consecutive driving titles before being dethroned last year by Hank Kuehne, whose 68 Saturday left him tied at 205. Carl Pettersson, who shot 68 Saturday, got to 205 and a ninth-place tie with the aid of a second-round hole-in-one on Riviera's 176-yard par-3 14th, J.J. Henry shot 65 Saturday to grab another share of ninth place, which also includes Aaron Baddeley (69), 2000 Nissan champion Kirk Triplett (72) and Tim Clark, who included eight birdies in his third-round best of 64. Tiger Woods, who has not won this tournament in six previous attempts since turning pro, is 14 strokes back of Weir, tied for 44th after a third- round 72. But few golfers on tour are better equipped to do something phenomenal quite as phenomenally as the eight-time major champion, who won the 2000 Pebble Beach National Pro Am from seven strokes back with seven holes to play. Dave Shelburne, (818) 713-3609 dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 4 boxes Photo: (1) Shigeki Maruyama - in second place with a 12-under 201 - shows his delight after his ball bounces back to the fairway after hitting a tree branch, setting up a birdie on the 11th hole. (2) Former UCLA golfer Scott McCarron shot a 72 Saturday for a three-day total of 203 at Riviera Country Club. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer (3) no caption (Mike Weir) Box: (1) From the FRINGE (2) LEADERBOARD lead·er·board n. A board that displays the leaders in a competition. leaderboard Noun a board displaying the current scores of the leading competitors, esp in a golf tournament (3) THIRD-ROUND SCORES (4) FINAL-ROUND GROUPINGS |
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