The year Jeff Maggert teed it up in his first PGA Tour event, his playing partner in today’s final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, Matt Every, was experiencing the terrible 2s.
Golf is about the only sport where men ages 47 and 28 can compete for a title. The twosome exited the third round tied atop the leaderboard at 12-under 198. Maggert emerged from back in the pack with a stellar 64 on a course he first played in 1991 at the United Airlines Hawaiian Open. He missed the cut, but came back here in 1992 to finish third.
After crafting a 64 on Friday to move into first, Every followed it up with a 68 Saturday, including a birdie on the final hole to draw even with Maggert. With 18 golfers within four shots of the lead, it’s hardly a match-play situation, but they are two shots clear of Johnson Wagner (66—200), Charles Howell III (66—200) and Brendon de Jonge (67—200).
The leaderboard isn’t filled with proven winners and it’s possible for someone like Steve Stricker to go low and post a number early, putting pressure on all the guys coming in.
For Maggert, this is his 547th tour start. He has three wins, the last coming in 2006. Getting a victory would be huge for him, keeping him exempt on the PGA Tour until the moment he could join the Champions Tour at age 50.
"I’ve been on the tour for 20 years and I’ve been a pro for 26," Maggert said. "So to be out here at 47 and still competing, you forget about all of the little things that can happen to you along the way. When you’re young, you don’t think about anything."
Key Hole 18: Par 5,551 yards
With 18 golfers within four shots of the lead, it might all come down to No. 18 today to determine who will walk off with the Sony Open in Hawaii trophy.
The par-5 closing hole was the second-easiest Saturday with a scoring average of 4.500.
There were two eagles, 39 birdies, 36 pars and three bogeys, including one by Tadd Fujikawa that cost him entering today’s final round. The two par 5s have been the easiest holes all week.
Tournament’s final cut made
Because there were 80 golfers advancing to the third round, only the final top 70 and ties will tee it up today, meaning 10 golfers received the dreaded "MDF" distinction: "made cut did not finish."
The final cut was 1-under 209.
Among those who didn’t make it through to today’s last round are Chad Campbell (210), Ryuji Imada (210), Nathan Green (212) and Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey (214).
The 10 players who made the cut but did not finish still receive a share of the prize money as well as FedEx Cup points.
Among those who just made the cut at 209 were a pair of former Sony Open champions — 2005 winner Vijay Singh and 2009 champ Zach Johnson. Singh shot a 1-over 71 on Saturday, and Johnson carded a 2-over 72.
Rookies leaving their mark
All but two of the 26 rookies on the PGA Tour this year teed off at Waialae Country Club on Thursday and 17 made the cut. The current "rookie leaders" are Sang-moon Bae and Ted Potter Jr. Both opened with a pair of 68s and fired 66 Saturday to get to 8-under 202. Matt Weibring’s tie for eighth in 2009 is the only top-10 rookie finish in the past three years.
Points makes a move
D.A Points shot out of the middle of the pack and into a tie for sixth to equal the best third round of the day at 6-under 64. The winner of last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Points begins today’s final round just three shots off the pace of front-runners Jeff Maggert and Matt Every.
"I finally hit some quality iron shots and holed some putts," said Points, who also won the pro-am portion at Pebble Beach with amateur playing partner Bill Murray. "I had been burning the edge for, whatever, the first round of the year and today some dropped in finally."
Points stays in touch with Murray, even confirming Saturday that they will be back together again next month at Pebble.
"I texted Bill this morning, because we’ve texted back and forth, and we’ve talked a lot but we’ve never really said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll see you in February.’ So finally I just said, ‘I’d better just double-check and make sure that we are still going to get to play together.’
"He said, ‘Well, of course. I never thought we weren’t.’ Last year we played with two lovely ladies on Wednesday at Cypress Point and he said ‘Well, they are ready for us again.’ "
Chow, Lee take in Sony Open
University of Hawaii head football coach Norm Chow and quarterbacks coach Tommy Lee were among those watching the third round Saturday from the First Hawaiian Bank skybox at the 18th hole.
They didn’t only have their eyes on golf — the box has a TV that was tuned to the thrilling NFL playoff game between the 49ers and Saints.
"We had a hard time keeping quiet sometimes," said Tony Guerrero, retired FHB executive vice president. Guerrero is also chairman emeritus of Friends of Hawaii Charities, Inc., which generates funding for nonprofits via the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Former Hawaii and current SMU head coach June Jones is also here for the tournament, Guerrero said.
Biggest roar for 49ers’ score
Tadd Fujikawa has heard roars while playing Waialae Country Club’s 18th hole on a few occasions. But this time he wasn’t the object of adulation.
After Fujikawa’s tee shot hit a palm tree, landing in the rough less than 100 yards ahead, a cheer erupted from one of the nearby hospitality tents as he sent his second shot on its way.
Focused on trying to scramble out of trouble, it took a moment for him to figure out the source of the commotion —the dramatic conclusion to the San Francisco 49ers’ playoff win over the New Orleans Saints.
"I was wondering what that was," Fujikawa said. "We were walking past the tents and there were a couple big cheers and I thought it must be the football game."
