Round 4: Hyundai Tournament of Champions

KAPALUA, Hawaii – With the final group now having reached the back nine in Monday’s final round, the advantage would seem to be in Steve Stricker’s favor.

Stricker leads the 27-man field this week in back nine scoring average. He’s a collective 14 under through the first three rounds on the back nine of the Plantation Course.

The last five holes have been particularly productive for Stricker – he’s a collective 13 under on those closing holes this week, and he birdied each of the final four holes in Sunday’s third round.

Here’s a look at the leaders and their back-nine averages this week:

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Steve Stricker finally has his first birdie of the day. And it couldn’t have come at a more critical time.

Stricker rolled in a 23-foot birdie putt at the par-3 eighth and is now at 19 under. That extends his lead to two shots over Webb Simpson, who has just made the turn. Stricker started the day with a five-shot lead.

Meanwhile, Stricker’s playing partner, Jonathan Byrd, bogeyed the eighth and is now three shots off the pace.

Martin Laird, who was at one time just a shot behind Stricker, is also now three shots behind.

Keegan Bradley has the hottest round of the day. He holed out for eagle at the par-4 16th and is now 7 under for the day and 10 under for the tournament.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Steve Stricker’s first bogey of the day has reduced his lead to one shot through his first six holes in Monday’s final round.

Stricker is 18 under, with Martin Laird and defending champion Jonathan Byrd each at 17 under. Stricker began the day with a five-stroke advantage.

Stricker bogeyed the par-4 sixth when he struggled to get out of the primary rough with his second shot. He then missed a five-foot putt to save par.

That’s just the fourth hole this week in which Stricker has played over par.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Steve Stricker’s lead has been reduced to three shots, as Martin Laird has birdied two of his first four holes.

Laird, who started the day tied for second — five shots off the lead — birdied the third and fourth holes and is now at 16 under.

Stricker has parred his first three holes and remains at 19 under.

Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd have each picked up early birdies and are at 15 under.

Obviously it’s still very early in Stricker’s round, but he’s currently the only player in the field who has yet to produce at least one birdie or eagle in the final round.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Playing as a single in the first group of the final round, David Toms flew around the course in 2-1/2 hours, shooting his best round of the week, a 2-under 71.

That allowed him to have plenty of time to prepare for tonight’s BCS Championship game, with his beloved LSU Tigers facing SEC rival Alabama for the national championship.

Toms

Toms, decked out in appropriate school colors (purple shirt, yellow pants) said he would be watching the game with his wife and kids.

“Just going to get my family situated now,” Toms said after his round (he finished the tournament at 4 over). “I hope all goes well. If not, we’ll sit around and sulk the rest of the day.”

Toms said his parents, his sister and her husband, his wife’s parents and some close friends will all be at the football game at the Louisiana Superdome.

As far as a prediction?

“I never make those,” Toms said. “But I’m hoping we’ll have a little bit of the home advantage. Of course, their 40 percent can sound awfully loud.”

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Having experience and course knowledge at the Plantation Course is generally considered a huge advantage for those in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions field. The two players in the final group – tournament leader Steve Stricker and defending champ Jonathan Byrd – are certainly evident of that.

But of the next four players on the leaderboard, three are making their first starts in this event – Bryce Molder, Webb Simpson and Kevin Na. And the other one – Martin Laird – is making just his second start here.

Molder said one of the reasons that the newcomers have played well here is that the conditions have not changed all week. The Trade winds have been mild and consistent, although they may blow a little bit harder for Monday’s final round.

Overall, though, it’s made for a quicker learning curve.

“The wind has been the same, so it’s been a little easier for guys like me,” Molder said. “It makes a big, big difference. It really does.”

Molder said he managed to judge the winds correctly during Thursday’s Pro-Am, and so “going into Friday the first round, there wasn’t any question as to which club (to use) off the tees.”

Since 2000, the only two players to win in their first look at the Plantation Course are Sergio Garcia (2002) and Daniel Chopra (2008). Chopra beat Stricker in a playoff that year.

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – With the leaders set to tee off in about an hour, here’s a look at last year’s final-round scoring averages for each of the players in the final three groups Monday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions: