Print |
E-mail to a friend
SPORTS
Overton holds on to first place
Jeff Overton tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of the Greenbrier Classic at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on Friday.
Related:
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Jeff Overton shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday for a three-stroke lead entering the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.
Overton, the second-round leader, overcame a pair of early bogeys with a solid back nine. He’s at 18 under through three rounds on the Old White course.
Overton kept the lead despite a pair of others flirting with 59s.
D.A. Points three-putted the par-5 17th for bogey, finished with a 61 and is alone in second at 15 under. Boo Weekley shot a 67 to reach 13 under.
Earlier, J.B. Holmes couldn’t convert a 10-foot eagle try at No. 17 and shot 60. He’s in a four-way tie for fourth place with Jonathan Byrd (64), Brendon de Jonge (65) and Jimmy Walker (67) at 12 under for the tournament.
Friday, Overton's drives made it possible for him to hit wedges into all the par-4 holes except one where he pulled out a 9-iron. He used a four-hole birdie stretch on The Greenbrier Resort's par-70 Old White course -- Nos. 7 through 10 -- to vault into first place at 14-under 126.
"I want to hit the driver as long as I can," the former Indiana University standout said. "So far the course is set up that way. If I put the ball in the fairway with my length I've got a lot of shots under 100 yards. The percentage of making birdies goes way up."
Weekley, who is familiar with West Virginia, shot a bogey-free 63 to jump into second at 130. Jimmy Walker (64) and first-round co-leader Erik Compton (68) are tied for third at 131. The cut came at 2-under 138 and 85 players return to play the third round Saturday.
CBS will televise the final two rounds, starting at 3 p.m.
Low scores are nothing new on the PGA Tour this season. Paul Goydos shot 59 and Steve Stricker a 60 at the John Deere Classic. Carl Pettersson fired a 60 last week in his win at the RBC Canadian Open.
Overton was 8-under for his Friday round with three holes left, and made no birdies coming in.
"I didn't think about it," he said of a 60 or lower. "Yeah, the golf course is great. It's not really like it's that easy. It's just the fact that the fairways are fairly firm, so it's playing a little short. Then they're not able to let the greens get burned out and get firm. So even if you miss a fairway, you know you can stop some wedge shots."
In his last nine events, Overton has been in the top three four times.
"I'm getting more and more confident with these players and the PGA lifestyle," he said. "It's nice to see my name on the leaderboard. It's about coming out here and playing, and for that given week, you know, being able to say you were the best in the world at something. That's pretty cool."
Weekley, a crowd favorite in this FedExCup event, matched his best round of the year and missed his career best by a shot.
"It's just another course," Weekley said. "I've always felt like I played good on old-style courses, you know where it's tree-lined and you pick a spot. So I kind of like these kind of golf courses, old-style golf courses; ain't real long. It's a real fair golf course where you can get in there. If you're driving it well, you can actually take advantage of the yardage that you're playing from."
Weekley racked up four birdies on his first eight holes. With all the red on the leaderboard, there's talk it will take 20-under to win.
"It could get there. It's just according to how the wind blows," Weekley said. "If it blows like it did yesterday, and it started off a little earlier, mid-morning or something, it'll be interesting to see.
This is a homecoming of sorts for Weekley, who has two PGA Tour wins. He played in the Nationwide Tour's Pete Dye Classic in Bridgeport, W.Va., three times, finishing second in 2006. He lost on a playoff.
Does that mean the Mountain State owes Boo one?
"Yes. It would be nice," he said. "You know, if my stars line up, it would be great to have a win and say, hey, this is my third win here. This is an awesome place to have it right here."
Walker made his climb with an 8-birdie round. He, too, knows West Virginia as he played twice in the Pete Dye Classic. He won in 2007 and that helped him get his PGA Tour card.
"Fond memories of West Virginia," he said.
Walker said he knows there's work still to be done.
Compton's story is more than just golf. He's been the recipient of two heart transplants and had a special on his medical miracle air Thursday night on Real Sports on HBO.
"You know I'm in good shape for the tournament," Compton said. "But I was just frustrated because, I mean, three birdies out here is not acceptable."
