Bob Hope Classic, Round 4
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
WATSON STUMBLES LATE (7:15 p.m.): Just when it looked like Bubba Watson would go into the final round with a two or maybe three-shot lead, he crashed and burned, making a double bogey on the final hole of the fourth round. That drops Watson back to 23 under and into a tie for the lead with Alex Prugh.
That 69 will leave a bad taste in his mouth for sure, but at the end of the day, Watson has a share of the lead. Twice before he's been in this position, leading with one round to play -- at Houston and Bay Hill -- and failed to seal the deal. What will happen this time? Both previous times he led or shared the lead going into the last round, Watson couldn't crack 70. He'll need to here, of course. Either way, the first one is always the hardest to win and Watson may be finding that out yet again. -- Brian Wacker
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WIN? (6:42 p.m.): Bill Haas, who shot a third-straight 66 today, said he thinks it'll take -- what else -- a 66 to have a shot at winning tomorrow.
"It would mean a lot," Haas said when asked about what a victory would mean here, where his dad, Jay, won in 1988. "The emotions, they're flowing."
Bil Haas certainly has some good karma going, that's for sure. Not only did his did win this tournament, but Billy Harmon, who Bill has been putting in a lot of work with on his game, caddied for Jay in that 1988 victory. -- Brian Wacker
PRUGH ON HIS ROUND (6:25 p.m.): Different course, different result for Alex Prugh in the fourth round here.
"SilverRock's a longer course, you don't have as short of irons coming into a lot of those greens," said Prugh, who shot a 2-under 70 Sunday. "And I just wasn't as close to the hole."
He also didn't make a couple of putts he expected to. Winning on the Nationwide Tour, however, has him feeling comfortable in this situation, even though Monday will be "a little different feel."
"At the same time, we're going to see more quality golf shots, which will help me visualize some of my golf shots better," Prugh added. "Hopefully I can use that to capitalize and make more birdies."
He'll need to, especially with a crowded leaderboard that includes Bubba Watson, Tim Clark and Mike Weir. -- Brian Wacker
FOURTH ROUND WINDING DOWN (5:58 p.m.): Bubba Watson is doing what he did yesterday, saving his best golf for last. On Saturday, Watson played his first nine holes in even par -- while everyone else started to pass him on the leaderboard -- before four birdies over the final nine left him just off the lead. Today, he's doing it again, playing his first nine holes in 1 under before birdies on three of his last four holes on the back nine. That has Watson at 24 under for the week and one shot clear of second-place Alex Prugh with four holes to play.
For all of Watson's quirks -- the pink shaft, the long drives, the Twitter videos and attention deficit disorder, he's got enough talent to win multiple times on the PGA TOUR. The first one is just sometimes the hardest. -- Brian Wacker
CELEBRITY SWINGS (5:40 p.m.): One of the biggest components of this tournament, of course, is the number of celebrities in the field, including Craig T. Nelson, who played with Bob Hope back in the early-ish days of this event. John O'Hurley has also become a regular and what the celebrities contribute to this event from a comedic and charitable aspect is certainly worthwhile, as you can see in the video to the left. -- Brian Wacker
HAAS IN THE HUNT (5:17 p.m.): When Bill Haas turned pro, he was the can't-miss kid who did. He had to spend a year on the Nationwide Tour -- a self-admitted humbling experience -- before securing his PGA TOUR card through q-school.
Since his rookie season in 2006, it's been a slow-but-steady rise for Haas, who now finds himself just one shot back of Alex Prugh after a third-straight 66. Clearly, Haas' work with Bill Harmon is paying off. So is the experience of what is now his fifth year on TOUR. Now all that's missing is a win. As for those 66s, see how he got them below. -- Brian Wacker
59 WATCH TAKES A HIT (5 p.m.): Shooting a 59 in golf is a lot like throwing a perfect game or no-hitter in baseball. Obviously, a lot has to go right. It's also aparently something you don't even talk about until it happens for fear of jinxing it. Too late. Kevin Streelman's chances of a 59 just took a big hit on the par-3 third, where his tee shot came up just short of the green and he was unable to get up-and-down for par. It was the first bogey of the day for Streelman, who now drops to 7 under on his round. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIE ALERT (4:45 p.m.): We've got another 59 watch going and unlike when Bubba Watson was going low Friday at SilverRock, Kevin Streelman is on the Palmer Course -- the same venue where David Duval shot a 59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Classic. Streelman has poured in five straight birdies and has eight in all through his first 11 holes. Last year's Kodak Challenge winner, Streelman hasn't missed a green in regulation and he's taken an absurd 14 putts, or 1.273 putts per green. (Click here to follow Streelman live with Shot Tracker.)
STREELMAN ON A ROLL (4:10 p.m.): Alex Prugh is still leading, but Kevin Streelman is sneaking up the leaderboard and playing some incredible golf over his last 27 holes. Streelman has six birdies today and just made the turn to the front nine in 30 on the Palmer Course, one day after shooting a 63 that included nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
The best round(s) of the day, though, belong to Ben Crane and Jason Bohn, each of whom is 7 under. That's also moved each of them up 37 spots on the leaderboard. -- Brian Wacker
BOGEY-FREE NO MORE (3:55 p.m.): Through the first three rounds, Martin Flores hadn't made a bogey. Today, the PGA TOUR rookie already has a bogey and a double bogey. The latter came on the par-3 third hole at La Quinta, the former on the par-3 seventh. On the upside, he does have a birdie, but Flores is 2 over for the day and has dropped five spots on the leaderboard. Part of the problem: He's hit only 40 percent of his fairways and has taken 13 putts. -- Brian Wacker
PRUGH PULLS AHEAD (3:30 p.m.): All week, Alex Prugh has kept things in perspective.
"I think this tournament is such -- the format to -- where everything's so spread out, you have four different courses, you're playing with amateurs, it's kind of hard to get yourself caught up in everything," Prugh said. "I'm just playing golf. I'm just trying to entertain my amateur partners as well as I can, and hopefully they get their money's worth when they're out here."
The way Prugh is playing, he might get his own money's worth. Prugh is 2 under through 12 holes today and leading by two mid-way through the fourth round. So far, so good, but he'll need to build as large a lead as possible with Monday having a totally different feel to it with a PGA TOUR victory hanging in the balance. -- Brian Wacker
BREAKING DOWN BUBBA (3:15 p.m.): With all of the rain over the last few days the longer hitters have been able to take advantage of the softer conditions. Bubba Watson has averaged over 300 yards carry for the week and seeing that there is no run on the ball, he has had a significant advantage over the rest of the field.
PGA TOUR players nowadays use the latest launch monitor technology to calculate the optimal spin rate, launch angle, club head and ball speed to find the best driver for there swings. -- Alex Fisher
WATSON PULLS EVEN (3 p.m.): Bubba Watson just made his 21st birdie of the week, which came on the par-5 fourth of the Nicklaus Course. Just as important, Watson has just one bogey over his last 26 holes. He may not shoot another 62 this week, but he may not have to, either. Watson is now tied for the lead with Alex Prugh at 21 under. -- Brian Wacker
YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (2:45 p.m.): "Is there going to be a 5th round?" -- @mphipps
There will indeed be a fifth round. Play was wiped out Thursday, but because the amateurs didn't play Friday and the weather has cooperated, officials were able to get the tournament back on track for the most part. Meaning they didn't have to cut out any rounds from the 90-hole event. Tee times and pairings for the final round will be announced after a cut is made today. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHECK (2:30 p.m.): Right now, the projected cut for the final round is at 8 under and that has some pretty big names scrambling right now. The 1999 Bob Hope Classic champion, David Dvual, is 3 under through his first nine holes at La Quinta, but he's outside the cut at 7 under.
Rich Beem and Chad Campbell are in deeper trouble at 3 and 2 under for the week, respectively, while Boo Weekley is only 1 under this week. Rickie Fowler? He's already 2 over today after an early double bogey that's dropped him to 5 over for thew week. It's early, and Fowler's is discovering the difficulties of being a rookie, but no one expected his first five rounds of the year to be 75, 72, 74, 70 and 75. "Terrible" is how Fowler described his swing yesterday, adding that it felt good before he went to Hawaii. Since then, not exactly. -- Brian Wacker
FATHER AND SON (2:15 p.m.): Bill Haas is just 2 under through his first 10 holes on the Nicklaus Course today, so if he's going to get his first career PGA TOUR win he's going to have to get to work. Still, he's 18 under for the week and just four off the current lead.
Should Haas find a way to get it done, he'd become the second member of his family to win here. His father, Champions Tour player Jay Haas, won the 1988 Bob Hope Classic (one of nine TOUR titles). Speaking of Jay, he's playing in the Champions Tour season opener in Hawaii, where he's tied for 15th eight shots off the lead with one round to play. -- Brian Wacker
KUCHAR CATCHING FIRE (1:55 p.m.): At this point, it has to be only a matter of time before Matt Kuchar wins again -- his two career victories sandwich seven mostly mediocre seasons. Since late last year, Kuchar has been playing the best golf of his career (see chart below) and that has continued this week. Kuchar has four birdies over his first six holes at the Nicklaus Course today and is now 17 under, just five shots off the lead.
One big reason: Kuchar is 31 years old and many players don't reach their prime until their 30s. Another reason: This season, Kuchar is fourth on the PGA TOUR in driving accuracy and sixth in greens in regulation. Obviously those stats are based on a very limited number of events -- two -- but even last year Kuchar was showing signs of a major turnaround, ranking 29th in putting, 21st in scoring and 31st in birdie average. He also ranked 17th and 23rd in third and final-round scoring average, respectively. -- Brian Wacker
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEKEND MAKES (1:40 p.m.): Early in the week in Palm Springs, the weather was apocalyptic. Thursday, the golfers didn't even come to the course it was so bad. The last two days? Not so much. Palm Springs is back to being Palm Springs with sunny skies again today and temperatures creeping into the low 60s. That should add up to more birdies, of course. -- Brian Wacker
WHEN IN THE LEAD ... (1:30 p.m.): Based on past results, Alex Prugh has to feel at least pretty good about his chances of winning this week. Twice over the last five years the 54-hole leader has gone on to win. Pat Perez did it last year, and Chad Campbell did it in 2006.
On the flip side of that are Robert Gamez, Justin Rose and Joe Ogilvie. In 2008, Gamez closed with rounds of 71-74 to tie for 16th. In 2007, Rose shot 70-76 on the weekend to finish third. And in 2005, Ogilvie shot 69-73 to finish in a tie for second. -- Brian Wacker
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BOGEY-FREE STREAK (1:15 p.m.): Speaking of PGA TOUR rookie Martin Flores, he's yet to make a bogey in this tournament. That's a string of 54 holes and is one he'll look to continue when he tees off at La Quinta at 1:45 p.m. ET.
The last player to win a tournament without a bogey? Lee Trevino at the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open. That tournament was 72 holes, though.
Flores's streak is actually 55 holes, by the way, extending back to the double bogey he made on the 17th hole at Waialae during the final round of the Sony Open. His last actually bogey? The 14th hole at Waialae during the third round. -- Brian Wacker
MATTER OF EXPERIENCE (1 p.m.): Bubba Watson might have a lot more experience than Alex Prugh, who has extended his lead to two since teeing off a little while ago. But Watson, Prugh and Martin Flores all share one commonality: They're all looking for their first win. Watson might have more experience, and he very well may emerge from this pack to win because of it, but in the end, Watson still has the same goose egg Prugh and Martin have. -- Brian Wacker
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PRUGH HOLDING HIS OWN (12:45 p.m.): The fourth round of the Bob Hope Classic is under way from PGA West, where Alex Prugh is on the golf course and still in the lead through his first two holes -- for now, anyway.
This is just the third career start on the PGA TOUR for Prugh, who missed the cut at the 2007 U.S. Open and tied for 72nd at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii. He's also the first rookie to be be leading this tournament since John Senden held the 36-hole lead in 2002. Phil Mickelson went on to win in a playoff that year. If Prugh keeps putting up the kind of numbers below, he'll be in the mix on Monday. -- Brian Wacker
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