SOARING AND SCORING MCCARRON IS LEADER OVER BUNCHED FIELD.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer The Tiger of Japan proved persistent. But 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. was every bit as unyielding Saturday and emphasized the point with a 56-foot eagle putt that pushed him past midway leader Toru Taniguchi Toru Taniguchi (born 10 February 1968) is a Japanese golfer. Taniguchi was born in Nara. He has won 14 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour (ranks tied 13th on the career victories list), topped the money list in 2002, and is eighth on the career money list. and into first place in the Nissan Open The Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. . Taniguchi, dubbed the Japanese Tiger by the media in his homeland, played bogey-free golf throughout the third round at 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. , overtook the hard-charging McCarron with a birdie on the 16th hole and wound up behind McCarron one hole later. Their front-end duel - Taniguchi shot 67 for a three-round total of 200 and McCarron got to 199 after a second consecutive 65, spiced by his dramatic eagle putt on No. 17 - overshadowed a supporting cast that was just short of spectacular. Reigning 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". rookie of the year Rookie of the Year may refer to:
Howell was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, the home town of the Masters Tournament. He was a member of Augusta Country Club, which is adjacent to Amen Corner at Augusta National Golf Club. , for example, tied the Nissan Open front-nine record of 28 and lowered his tournament total by seven strokes with the best score of the week (64) but could advance no higher than sixth, at 203. Len Mattiace Leonard Earl "Len" Mattiace (born October 15, 1967) is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Mattiace was born in Mineola, New York. He attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 1990 with a degree in Sociology. , who flew in under the radar This article is about the magazine. For other uses, see Under the Radar (disambiguation). Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution." It features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. late Friday with a 65 that equaled what was then the week's best score, opened fast Saturday with a first-hole eagle and closed as quickly with birdie putts of 30 and 40 feet on his last two holes in a round of 67 that left him third, at 201. Rory Sabbatini (65) and Brad Faxon (68) both eagled the 564-yard 11th hole while advancing to a tie for fourth at 202. ``The first person to get to 16-under (par) will win,'' said Sabbatini, who thought the winning total would be 17 under par. He might not be thinking low enough. McCarron's tournament-leading total of 14 under par is second-best in the 76-year history of the event and only two shots off Fred Couples' 54-hole record of 197, set in 1990. With dry fairways yielding roll not often seen on this winter-tour stop at Riviera, and with firm, good-rolling greens in the best condition Nissan Open veterans have seen in years, Lanny Wadkins' 17-year-old tournament record of 20-under-par might be in jeopardy today. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ,'' McCarron said, when asked what score he thought might be needed to win with so many players shooting so well. ``You've just got to go out and play well (today).'' Mattiace, who never has won in eight years as a tour regular, will go out with McCarron and Taniguchi in the final group today, hoping he can somehow continue the putting that has carried him to a 69-65-67 start - especially his putting Saturday. ``Today is probably one of the best days I've ever had putting,'' said the 34-year-old Wake Forest alumnus ALUMNUS, civil law. A child which one has nursed; a foster child. Dig. 40, 2, 14. , who was a teammate of tour veteran Billy Andrade on the Demon Deacons' 1986 NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association championship team. If he can combine Friday's ball-striking with Saturday's putting, Mattiace might follow the lead of Kirk Triplett, who used the 2000 Nissan Open to earn his first tour victory. ``I hit the ball better Friday than I did (Saturday),'' Mattiace said of his late-finishing second round, which included birdies on the final four holes. Howell, 22, who already might be a candidate for the best tour player without a victory - he has been in the top 10 eight times in 43 starts before this week - would rather maintain his Saturday form and forget Friday forever. ``It was probably the worst I hit the ball all year,'' he said of his second-round 71, which, if good for not much else, at least got him focused going into the weekend. ``It was important to me (Saturday) to get off to a good start,'' he said. Talk about overkill overkill Vox populi An excess of anything . Howell opened eagle-birdie-birdie Saturday, leaving McCarron, who started after him, blinking at the scoreboard like Wile E. Coyote. ``Kids these days,'' deadpanned McCarron later, shortly after telling the media that ``golf, it's a hard game.'' Not the way Howell played it Saturday. Howell, the 2000 NCAA champion from Oklahoma State, followed his eagle-birdie-birdie start - the one McCarron was aware of before launching his own round - with another birdie on No. 4. That came on a 40-foot chip-in, after a 20-foot chip-in on No. 3, and Howell concluded his front nine with two more birdies - on Nos. 6 and 9 - to tie Andrew Magee's 1991 front-nine tournament record. In between, he saved par on No. 7 by following a rare errant drive with a recovery shot punched through branches of a tree. Much more of that and Howell will be celebrating an inaugural victory he thought he'd have by now and some have criticized him for failing to produce - not that it bothers the fit and focused 155-pounder, who turns that kind of sentiment into motivation. Barely two years into it, this is his understanding of the way the tour works: ``Winning is almost an accident,'' he said. ``You start playing well and it kind of happens.'' From the FRINGE HOLE OF THE DAY No. 11, 564 yards, par 5 The second-longest par-5 at Riviera produced two eagles and five birdies just by the players who finished in the top 10 at the conclusion of the third round. Brad Faxon and Rory Sabbatini had the eagles, the second in three attempts for both on No. 11 this week. DUFFER OF THE DAY Matt Kuchar, the 1997 U.S. Amateur champion and low amateur at the '98 Masters, included back-to-back double bogeys in a front-nine 40 en route to shooting 5-over-par 76 that dropped him from a share of 25th place to a tie for 76th. QUOTE OF THE DAY ``It's all sacred stuff. I can't tell you (but) no food fights.'' - Scott McCarron, on what's it like to return to the frat house for dinner at age 36, as he did Friday night at his Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (ΒΘΠ) is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. fraternity at 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 . INSIDE THE ROPES Charles Howell III used his own tour caddie - Otis ``Buck'' Moore - during a best-of-the-week 64 that tied Andrew Magee's 11-year-old Nissan Open front-nine record of 28 Saturday, while Ted Tryba was assisted by regular Riviera caddie Brandon Link in setting the tournament 18-hole record of 61 in 1999. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1) Scott McCarron celebrates after sinking a 56-foot eagle putt on 17 that put him into the lead at the Nissan Open. (2) Toru Taniguchi had no bogeys during his third round and is one stroke off the lead. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (3) Scott McCarron Box: (1) From the FRINGE (see text) (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 |
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