Round 4: Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation
January 22 2012
6:36 pm
Wilson regains sole possession of lead
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Everyone else was making birdies while Mark Wilson was settling for pars Sunday afternoon on the front side of the Palmer Course at PGA West.
In fact, the former UNC standout was the only player among the top 19 on the leaderboard to make the turn over par with a 37. Wilson made eight pars and one bogey as the three-stroke lead he started the final round with evaporated.
The back nine has been much kinder to Wilson, though. After tapping in from 9 inches for his first birdie, Wilson holed a bunker shot for another at the par-4 12th to break out of a three-way tie for the lead and move to 22 under.
Wilson, who followed the ball into the cup with his right fist raised in the air and his left leg kicking, now is one stroke ahead of Robert Garrigus and John Mallinger.
6:22 pm
Wilson back in tie for the lead
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Mark Wilson has rejoined the tie at the top of the leaderboard after he got up-and-down from beside the green at the par-5 11th hole on the Palmer Course.
Wilson chipped to 9 inches for the tap-in birdie that drew him even with playing partner Robert Garrigus, who had to make a 5-footer for par on the same hole, and John Mallinger at 21 under. Mallinger, who is playing one group ahead, also birdied the same hole.
Johnson Wagner, who won last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, is just one shot behind the leaders after playing his first 13 holes in 5 under. He’s tied with Zach Johnson, who is 2 under through 11.
Seven more players are within three strokes of the lead, including Brendon de Jonge, who is finished and heads the group of five players at 18 under. He shot 64 on Sunday.
6:15 pm
Watch: Garrigus birdies No. 6
Garrigus gets up and down
Robert Garrigus hits a 50-foot chip shot to 3 feet and makes for birdie on the par-5 6th hole.
6:05 pm
Garrigus breaks out of logjam
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Robert Garrigus, who started the Humana Challenge with two double bogeys in his first three holes, has just broken out of a three-way tie for the lead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole.
Garrigus is now 21 under and one stroke ahead of Mark Wilson and John Mallinger.
Garrigus was actually 6 over after his first eight holes in Thursday’s first round, which he played on the Palmer Course at PGA West. He has played his next 56 holes in 27 under, including a career-low 61 in the third round.
5:42 pm
Leaderboard update: 3 tied at turn
LA QUINTA, Calif. — As the Humana Challenge heads to its final nine holes, there are three players tied for the lead and another 15 within four strokes of the pace the trio at the top is setting at 20 under.
Mark Wilson, who was three strokes ahead when the third round was completed Sunday morning, has yet to make a birdie in the final round. He’s 1 over for the day and now tied with John Mallinger and Robert Garrigus.
Mallinger is having the best round of the leaders after making the turn in 4 under. Garrigus is 2 under after an impressive par at the ninth where he hit his drive well right, put his second in a greenside bunker and blasted out to 20 inches.
Garrigus, who shot a career-low 61 in the third round, had regained a share of the lead with a birdie on the previous hole. He had a 28-inch putt — oddly, the same length as the little putter he once used — to move back to 20 under.
John Senden is 4 under through 11 holes and trails the leaders by one stroke. Jeff Maggert, Bobby Gates, Ben Crane, Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson and last week’s winner, Johnson Wagner, are tied at 18 under.
4:50 pm
Mallinger soars with eagle
LA QUINTA, Calif. – John Mallinger has just joined the group at the top of the leaderboard early during the final round of the Humana Challenge.
Mallinger just holed a wedge from 48 feet at the par-5 sixth hole for an eagle. The lanky Californian is now tied with Brandt Snedeker and Mark Wilson at 20 under, two strokes ahead of the field.
Mallinger struggled last season on the PGA TOUR, making just six cuts in 15 starts. When he didn’t qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, Mallinger opted to play the Nationwide Tour where he posted five straight top-10s, including two runner-up finishes.
The Long Beach State grad is looking for his first TOUR victory.
4:27 pm
Sneds grabs share of lead
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Brandt Snedeker certainly didn’t let the two-hour break between rounds at the Humana Challenge bother him.
The Huck Finn lookalike is tied for the lead with Mark Wilson at 20 under after making birdie on two of his first five holes in the final round. Snedeker made a 9-footer at the par-5 second and has just rolled in a 12-footer at the fifth.
Snedeker, who is playing for the first time since hip surgery last fall, had to have gained confidence from the way he finished the wind-delayed third round. He went back to La Quinta Sunday morning and birdied his last five holes — and the final six in all.
4:11 pm
Wilson’s lead now just one
LA QUINTA, Calif. — The game’s on. Mark Wilson’s three-stroke advantage is now just one after three holes of the Humana Challenge.
The gap narrowed when Wilson’s tee shot on the third hole, a 182-yard par 3, veered well right of the green. He ended up missing a 14-footer for par to drop back to 20 under.
Meanwhile, Wilson’s playing partner, Robert Garrigus, had rolled in an 8-footer at the first hole to move to 19 under. The birdie was Garrigus’ 19th in his last 33 holes.
Playing in the penultimate group, Brandt Snedeker joined Garrigus at 19 under when he got up and down from the greenside bunker at the second hole, making a 9-footer for birdie.
3:53 pm
Lee makes week’s fourth ace
Lee aces No. 17 in Round 4
Danny Lee cards a one on the 140 yard par-3 17th hole.
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Danny Lee just made the fourth hole-in-one of the week at the Humana Challenge. There has now been an ace in each round.
The New Zealander used a pitching wedge at No. 17 on the Palmer Course, which his eighth hole of the day. The hole was playing to 141 yards.
John Rollins made the first ace of the week at No. 7 on the Nicklaus Private Course, using a wedge on the 128-yard hole during the first round to notch the second hole-in-one of his PGA TOUR career. Rookie Miguel Angel Carballo then aced No. 11 at the Nicklaus Course with a 7-iron on Friday.
Arnold Palmer’s grandson Sam Saunders accounted for the week’s third ace at No. 5 on the Palmer Private Course, using a 3-iron on the 228-yard hole. No word on whether his grandfather, who was on the property that day, was in his gallery at the time.
3:06 pm
Johnson bogey-free for second day
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Hard to tell which was harder: the pre-dawn wake-up calls or the chilly temperatures when the third round of the Humana Challenge resumed at 7:30 a.m. PT (10:30 p.m. ET) on Sunday.
"Well it was just, I hadn’t played in 50-degree temperatures, I guess that’s probably the big difference," Zach Johnson said. "But there’s no wind, it wasn’t that difficult. It’s not easy getting up at 4:30, 5 o’clock, but yeah, we’re used to it. I mean delays are a part of the PGA TOUR, certainly a part of golf, and you just roll with it.
"I mean, it stinks for us, but it’s really, really tough for the volunteers, certainly for the maintenance staff and everybody. … No one’s a winner with it, but we make the best of it and you just continue to go forward."
Besides, Johnson has a chance to win his eighth PGA TOUR event when he tees off in Sunday’s final group with Robert Garrigus and Mark Wilson, who leads by three at 21 under. Johnson polished off his second straight bogey-free 65 after the overnight wind delay and is among four tied at 18 under.
"I left a bunch out there, but I made a few putts and it probably evens out in the end, I don’t know how you look at it," Johnson said. "But I feel good, I like where I’m at and one more round."
Until going winless last season, Johnson had won at least one tournament in each of the previous four years. He did have four top-10s but didn’t make the U.S. Presidents Cup team that went to Australia — and with this being a Ryder Cup year, Johnson doesn’t want to miss another international competition.
Particularly not with his good friend Davis Love III at the helm.
"Anytime you’ve been associated with that, … you want to be in them. You do," said Johnson, who frequently tweeted his support to the victorious U.S. team in Melbourne last November. "But at the same time, I was watching, I’m going to be on my couch watching that. That’s our team.
“So I thought they played great and hopefully I can get my game on the right track and make Captain Davis’ team."
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