KA‘UPULEHU-KONA – After 36 holes of play, the makau hook trophy is still anybody’s for the taking.
Eight golfers are within one stroke of the lead heading into Saturday’s final round at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai; the trio of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Stephen Ames are tied for first at 12-under. Els came into the day with a one-stroke lead and looked to be riding the wave of momentum from Thursday, but a stumble on the fifth hole allowed his competitors to make up ground.
“I had an excellent start, I was 3 under (through four holes),” said Els. “Then I made a really bad error in judgment on the par 3.
“I hit it in the water, made double bogey. That really set me back because I was really in a great rhythm… It was just one of those kind of days, but I lost a lot of momentum with that tee shot on the fifth, but I thought I hung in well.”
Five golfers – Ames, Jim Furyk, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Brett Quigley and Scott Parel – posted the low score of the day at 6-under. Furyk, Jimenez and Quigley all find themselves tied for fourth at 11-under with Steven Alker and Retief Goosen.
Alker and Goosen have been the two most consistent golfers thus far; neither have recorded a bogey or worse, the only two players to accomplish that feat this year at Hualalai. Shane Bertsch leads the field with three eagles through two rounds; no other player has more than one.
Jimenez finished Friday on a particularly hot streak to put himself in contention, recording birdies on four of the final five holes. Quigley posted a bogey-free round, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 10th hole.
“It’s great playing with Bernhard (Langer) and Michael (Allen), two great guys, so it’s an easy round,” said Quigley. “But you know you’re going to have to shoot a low score.”
Furyk also notched a bogey-free round, including birdies on four of five to start the back nine.
“Got it going early on the back nine and then those finishing holes – 16, 17, 18 – 16 and 17 have been tough for me for one reason or another,” said Furyk.
The shot of the day came on the par-3 17th hole, where Stephen Dodd hit the lone ace of the tournament so far. Dodd’s hole-in-one is just the third in tournament history.
The final round at Hualalai will tee off at 10 a.m. Saturday with Tom Watson, Larry Mize and Dodd leading the way. The leading trio of Els, Singh and Ames are scheduled to start at 12:23 p.m.
Scoreboard
T-1 Ernie Els -12 64-68 132
T-1 Vijay Singh-12 65-67 132
T-1 Stephen Ames -12 66-66 132
T-4 Jim Furyk -11 67-66 133
T-4 Miguel Angel Jiménez -11 67-66 133
T-4 Brett Quigley -11 67-66 133
T-4 Steven Alker -11 66-67 133
T-4 Retief Goosen -11 66-67 133
T-9 Shane Bertsch -9 68-67 135
T-9 David Toms -9 67-68 135
T-11 Scott Parel -8 70-66 136
T-11Dicky Pride -8 68-68 136
T-13 Doug Barron -7 69-68 137
T-13 Jeff Sluman -7 69-68 137
T-13 Jeff Maggert -7 67-70 137
T-13 K.J. Choi -7 67-70 137
T-13 Bernhard Langer -7 66-71 137
T-18 Ken Tanigawa -6 71-67 138
T-18 Corey Pavin -6 69-69 138
T-18 Michael Allen -6 67-71 138
T-18 Darren Clarke -6 66-72 138
T-22 Paul Broadhurst -5 69-70 139
T-22 Lee Janzen -5 68-71 139
T- 24 Mark O’Meara -4 72-68 140
T- 24 Cameron Beckman -4 68-72 140
T-26 John Daly -3 72-69 141
T-26 Jerry Kelly -3 71-70 141
T-26 Mike Weir -3 69-72 141
29 Olin Browne -2 71-71 142
T-30 Rocco Mediate -1 74-69 143
T-30 Mark Calcavecchia -1 72-71 143
T-30 Fred Funk -1 72-71 143
T-30 Joe Durant -1 70-73 143
T-30 Rod Pampling -1 70-73 143
T-30 Jay Haas -1 69-74 143
T-36 David Duval E 74-70 144
T-36 Tom Lehman E 73-71 144
T-36 Alex Cejka E 71-73 144
39 Scott McCarron +2 73-73 146
40 Tom Watson +3 78-69 147
41 Larry Mize +4 71-77 148
42 Stephen Dodd +9 85-68 153