Golf Talk Lounge

Final Round Preview – PGA Tour – HP Byron Nelson Championship – TPC Four Seasons Resort – Irving, Texas –

As many as nine players had at least a share of the lead Saturday in the third round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship on the PGA Tour, setting the stage for a potential Sunday shootout in the final round in Texas.

After 54 holes at the TPC Four Seasons Resort, 21^st-ranked Jason Dufner leads at 8-under overall after shooting a 69 Saturday. High winds challenged players throughout the third round, but it didn’t stop several from making a run at the lead.

Vijay Singh, at 49 years old, tied for the lead after a late eagle and birdie but recorded a three-putt bogey at the last hole. Ranked 90^th in the Official World Golf Rankings, Singh hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2008. At 100-to-1 odds to capture the title heading into the week according to Ladbrokes, Singh is just one of 15 players within four shots of Dufner’s lead.

J.J. Henry, Jason Day and Dicky Pride are all T-2 a shot back at 7-under. Day was bogey-free through 17 holes Saturday until a three-putt lip-out bogey at No. 18. The 2010 champion at the Byron Nelson, Day shot 3-under-67 to position himself for his second career PGA Tour triumph.

Dufner, who has seven Top 25s this season, is trying to win for the second time in his career. He won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last month. Dufner, at 20-1, was one of the favorites coming into the week and has had trouble closing out tournaments throughout his career.

Defending champion Keegan Bradley and PLAYERS champion Matt Kuchar both led at times Saturday but fell back as the round progressed. Both are 4-under and T-8 heading into the final 18 holes.

Look for Day and Dufner to duel Sunday, but in separate pairings. Day, ranked No. 16 with runner-up finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open last year, plays in the pairing just ahead of the leader. Day has great history here with a victory and a fifth-place finish.

As underdogs, Henry and Pride could turn back the clock and log a victory.

Other Golf News:

• Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell dispatched of Sergio Garcia in the quarterfinals to advance to Sunday’s semi-finals of the Volvo World Match Play Championship. McDowell takes on 61^st-ranked Rafael Cabrera Bello in one semi, while Paul Lawrie and Nicolas Colsaerts battle in the other match. Lawrie and Cabrera Bello have both won European Tour titles in 2012.
• The semi-finals are set for the LPGA Tour’s Sybase Match Play Championship. Rolex No. 20 Morgan Pressel and Spain’s Azahara Munoz compete in the second match Sunday morning with American Vicky Hurst and Candie Kung in the first match.
• Rolex No. 1 Yani Tseng and Na Yeon Choi were both bounced from the Sybase Match Play Championship in the third round.
• Pressel and Munoz, who both won 5 & 4 in their quarterfinal matches, were both 33-1 underdogs to capture the match play title heading into the week, according to Ladbrokes. Munoz, looking for her first LPGA Tour title, has impressive victories over Karrie Webb and Stacy Lewis this week.

Second Round – PGA Tour – HP Byron Nelson Championship – TPC Four Seasons Resort – Irving, Texas –

Jason Dufner shot 4-under-66 to reach 7-under overall and take the 36-hole lead at the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

The 21^st-ranked Dufner broke through for first PGA Tour win three weeks ago at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He carded seven birdies against three bogeys on a day that difficult to score at TPC Four Seasons Resort. The 35-year-old leads the field in Driving Accuracy and Greens In Regulation stats through two rounds.

Ryan Palmer, who was runner up last year losing to Keegan Bradley in a playoff, is part of a six-way tie at 6-under along with PLAYERS champion Matt Kuchar and Chad Campbell (66 in the second round).

Bradley, the defending champion, is 5-under and T-8 heading into the weekend. More than 30 players find themselves within five shots of the lead. Dufner and Bradley were among the favorites at 20-to-1 odds according to Ladbrokes.com. Overall betting favorite and 10^th-ranked Phil Mickelson shot 69 to earn a weekend tee time. He’s 1-under overall and T-34.

Several high profile players missed the cut, which was 2-over-140, including Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen.

Other Golf News:

• England’s Brian Davis fired the round of the day at the Byron Nelson shooting a 5-under-65. He jumped 100 places to T-20 after 36 holes.
• Top seed and overall betting favorite Martin Kaymer, No. 9 in the Official World Golf Ranking, was bounced from the European Tour’s Volvo World Golf Championship after going 0-2 in the round-robin format. Saturday’s matches include the final 16 players and the quarterfinals.
• Cristie Kerr and Karrie Webb both lost in the second round of the LPGA Tour’s Sybase Match Play Championship in New Jersey. Overall favorite Yani Tseng takes on Candie Kung in Saturday’s round of 16.
• Americans Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford both cruised into the third round of match play. Pressel battles Na Yeon Choi, the No. 2 overall seed, in the first match Saturday at 7:30 a.m. local time.
• Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Rafael Cabrera-Bello advanced through the first two days at the Volvo Match Play undefeated at 2-0. Beside Kaymer, several other players were knocked out after two matches including Charl Schwartzel and Peter Hanson.

Friday Update – PGA Tour – HP Byron Nelson Championship – TPC Four Seasons Resort – Irving, Texas –

Overnight leader Ryan Palmer, who was bogey-free in shooting an opening round 6-under-64 Thursday, is 2-over through four holes Friday in the second round of the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

Palmer now trails Alex Cejka, who has reached 6-under overall, by two strokes as the morning wave of players are on the course at TPC Four Seasons Resort. Ranked No. 88 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Palmer was runner-up here last year losing to Keegan Bradley in a playoff.

The three-time PGA Tour champion has just one Top 10 this season – a T-4 at the Zurich Classic.

Marc Leishman, who shot 65 Thursday, tees off at 12 p.m. local time. Aussie Jason Day –2-under through four holes Friday to reach 4-under overall – is making an early move Friday. He won this event in 2010. At 4-under are also Chad Campbell, Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy.

Riding his PLAYERS Championship victory into this week, Matt Kuchar opened with a 66 in Texas, but is falling back now. After an opening birdie Friday, he has a bogey and double bogey on his card to slip back to T-24 at the moment.

Players are bunched up with the leader at 6-under and the projected cut-line at even-par. A low round can make up ground Friday, but the winds are picking up to challenge everyone. Scoring has been difficult early Friday.

Other Golf News:

• Pre-tournament favorites Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott both shot 3-over-73 to open up the Byron Nelson. They need low rounds to sit around for the weekend.
• The LPGA Tour’s Sybase Match Play Championship produced several opening-day upsets as four of the Top 9 seed lost including defending champion Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer and Ai Miyazato. Rolex World No. 1 Yani Tseng, led 5-UP at the turn, and held on to win just 1-UP in her match.
• Top-seed Martin Kaymer dropped his opening-round match Thursday at the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain. The round-robin format provides him the possibility to advance to the knock-out stage with a Friday match win.
• Brittany Lincicome was also bounced out in the first round of the Sybase Match Play at Hamilton Farm Golf Club.

Day One Updates – European Tour – Volvo World Match Play Championship – Finca Cortesin Golf Club – Casares, Spain –

The European Tour’s Volvo World Match Play Championship is mid-way through its day one matches with defending champion Ian Poulter and World No. 12 Justin Rose off to great starts.

Split into eight groups of three players, the round-robin match-play format featured only the seeded players Thursday. Poulter, who beat Luke Donald in the final a year ago, defeated John Senden 3 & 2 in the opening match from Finca Cortsein Golf Club in Spain.

Justin Rose, who captured a World Golf Championship in Florida earlier this season, made five birdies in his first eight holes and leads Robert Rock 5-UP at the turn. The only American in the field – Brandt Snedeker – was 5-UP through six holes and went on to beat Thomas Bjorn 5 & 4.

Top seed Martin Kaymer, ranked 9^th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is struggling with Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Kaymer trails 2-DN through eight holes.

Several others are in are tight matches including Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and Charl Schwartzel.

Other Golf News:

• Jhonattan Vegas birdied four of his first five holes to lead the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship in the early going. Vegas has struggled this year, but logged a T-7 last week at THE PLAYERS.
• Suzann Pettersen (2011) and Sun Young Yoo (2010) are both in the field for the LPGA Tour’s third-annual Sybase Match Play Championship in New Jersey. The single-elimination event features the Top 64 players in the Rolex World Rankings. Matches are just underway with Natalie Gulbis 2-DN through four holes in her match.
• Out for several months due to injury, Steve Marino is also set to return to the PGA Tour later this month at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
• World No. 10 Phil Mickelson is even par through fives holes at the Byron Nelson. Playing in the morning wave, Mickelson and others are expected to battle winds all week in Texas. He is playing this event for the first time since 2007. He last won here in 1996.

Preview – European Tour – Volvo World Match Play Championship – Finca Cortesin Golf Club – Casares, Spain –

A limited field is gathered in Spain for the European Tour’s Volvo World Match Play Championship this week.

The unique round-robin format – allowing for group winners to advance into the weekend – begins Thursday with eight singles matchups between the Top 16 seeded players. The matches begin with defending champion and No. 8 seed Ian Poulter taking on No. 9 John Senden.

The best opening round match on paper is 12^th-ranked and 2^nd-seeded Justin Rose against two-time European Tour champion Robert Rock, who is the No. 15 seed here. Both Rock (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship) and Rose (World Golf Championships – Cadillac Championship) have won titles this season.

Top seed Martin Kaymer, ranked 9^th in the Official World Golf Ranking, battles Rafael Cabrera-Bello Thursday at Finca Cortesin Golf Club. Kaymer and Lee Westwood, who is not playing this week, are the only two players in the world Top 10 without a victory this season.

According to Skybet.com, Kaymer is the overall betting favorite at 13-to-2 odds, but look for Graeme McDowell (14-1) to perhaps make a run. Not in great form at the moment, McDowell is a match-play stalwart along with Poulter.

For a flier bet, take Branden Grace at 16-1, he is looking for his fourth European Tour victory of 2012.

The field also includes past Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia, Brandt Snedeker, Retief Goosen and Camilo Villegas.

Other Golf News:

• Ben Curtis, who finished runner-up last week at THE PLAYERS, ranks 10^th on the PGA Tour Money List.
• Scott Verplank and J.B. Holmes withdrew from the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
• U.S.-born players have won six consecutive PGA Tour events and make up seven of the Top 11 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Westwood and Tiger Woods are all taking this week off.
• The Sybase Match Play Championship begins Thursday in Gladstone, New Jersey with a 64-player field. The first round features 9th-seed Brittany Lincicome against fellow American and Solheim Cup teammate Ryann O’Toole.
• Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Adam Scott make up one of the marquee groupings Thursday in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship. The trio tees off No. 10 at 7:30 a.m. local time in Texas. PLAYERS Champion Matt Kuchar tees it up with major champions Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington at 12:30 p.m. off the first hole.