SURREY, B.C. -- Gene Sauers' $630,000 first-place check is more than seven times the amount of his first winning payday. He earned $81,000 for his victory at the 1986 Bank of Boston Classic.
Sauers' last win, in 1989, came 13 years, 6 months and 20 days ago. That's the third longest period between wins, surpassed only by Butch Baird and Ed Fiori.
STELLAR SUNDAY FOR SENDEN: In all the talk of Australians doing well at the Air Canada Championship -- Aussies Robert Allenby and Peter Lonard made it into Sunday's final group -- another talented up-and-comer from Down Under was overlooked.
John Senden, a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Brisbane, teed off 10 groups before the leaders, so perhaps it wasn't a big surprise that no one expected him to contend. But Senden went out in 32 with five birdies and a bogey, and as the third-round leaders started tentatively, his name rose up the leaderboard.
Another trio of birdies on holes 12 through 14 took Senden to 7-under for the day and 12-under for the tournament, just one back of then-leader Gene Sauers.
Senden, knowing he had to pull off a great shot at No. 18 to have a chance for birdie -- and tie for the lead -- misjudged his approach as he fired directly at the pin. His iron shot bounced off the rocks at the water hazard in front of the green and was all wet. Senden struggled to a double bogey for a 5-under 66 and had to settle for a top-10 finish.
It will be Senden's first top-10 finish in the 2002 season, though he's come close and owns five top-25s. The paycheck will be of great help as the fall begins -- coming into this week, Senden was at No. 125 on the money list with $347,889 in earnings.
BOGEY-FREE WEEKEND: Ten birdies and no bogeys in the final two rounds moved Vijay Singh up into a tie for third.
Singh played a solid game the entire week, ranking in the top 25 in driving accuracy (T25 with 36 of 56 fairways or 64.3 percent, lowered by a 36 percent showing Friday); greens in regulation (1 with 57 of 72 greens hit); and putts per green in regulation (T12 with an average of 1.702).
As well, the Fiji native's 19 birdies tied him for eighth most in the field.
Singh's eighth top-10 finish for the season puts him just one behind Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in that category.
LOWERY LUCK: For the third time in six weeks, Steve Lowery turned in a runner-up finish on the PGA Tour.
It's also the second year in a row that Lowery has finished second in this event. In four appearances at the Air Canada Championship, Lowery has never finished higher than a tie for 13th.
His $378,000 second-place check designated Lowery as the leading money winner at the event -- $856,033, or an average of just over $53,500 per round he's played at the Northview Country Club.
Friday, May 31, 2002
Inside the Numbers: Lonard overpowers par-5s
SURREY, B.C. -- One reason why Australian Peter Lonard has not missed a single cut in his rookie year on the PGA Tour is his ability to make eagles.
Lonard recorded two eagles in the third round of the Air Canada Championship. The first came on the par-5 seventh hole, the only eagle of the day recorded on that hole, and one on the par-5 12th. The holes played as the 17th and 18th toughest Saturday and for the week.
In three rounds at the 12th, Lonard has gone eagle-birdie-eagle. He leads the field with three eagles this week.
The trio of eagles ties Lonard for third with Phil Mickelson in eagles converted in 2002 with 13. But with another good day Sunday, Lonard could tie or overtake co-leaders J.J. Henry and Jonathan Byrd, who both have 14 eagles.
CLARKE ON THE MOVE: On the strength of a five-birdie, one-bogey performance, Darren Clarke made the biggest rise on Moving Day. The Northern Ireland native started the third round tied for 38th and moved into a tie for seventh.
This week, Clarke has had exceptional success on the opening holes of the second nine. He's 8-under on holes 10 through 13 alone, including four consecutive birdies on those holes Saturday. His 16 birdies tie him for second most in the field.
TOUGHER COURSE: Three players carded 5-under rounds of 66 Saturday: leader Gene Sauers, Clarke and Brandt Jobe, who moved from a tie for 51st into the top 10.
That's four strokes off the 62 recorded by Robert Allenby in the second round and even one higher than the 65 that David Frost had in the first round. For the field, 71.11 was the average Saturday, compared to 71.05 Friday.
Generally, scoring average goes down for the weekend, when the struggling players have missed the cut and gone home.
MAPLE LEAF RAG: Five players with Canadian ties remain in the field. Excluding Stephen Ames -- born in Trinidad and Tobago and now a Canadian resident -- Glen Hnatiuk, Mike Weir, Ian Leggatt and Dave Barr all struggled in the third round.
The lowest Canadian, Hnatiuk, is in a tie for 50th after shooting an even-par round of 71. Weir shot a 3-over 74 to drop into a tie for 66th, while Leggatt had a 75 to tie for 75th. And 50-year-old Barr, who has competed on the PGA Tour, Senior Tour and Buy.com Tour this year, ballooned to an 80 to finish the day last in the field.
Lonard recorded two eagles in the third round of the Air Canada Championship. The first came on the par-5 seventh hole, the only eagle of the day recorded on that hole, and one on the par-5 12th. The holes played as the 17th and 18th toughest Saturday and for the week.
In three rounds at the 12th, Lonard has gone eagle-birdie-eagle. He leads the field with three eagles this week.
The trio of eagles ties Lonard for third with Phil Mickelson in eagles converted in 2002 with 13. But with another good day Sunday, Lonard could tie or overtake co-leaders J.J. Henry and Jonathan Byrd, who both have 14 eagles.
CLARKE ON THE MOVE: On the strength of a five-birdie, one-bogey performance, Darren Clarke made the biggest rise on Moving Day. The Northern Ireland native started the third round tied for 38th and moved into a tie for seventh.
This week, Clarke has had exceptional success on the opening holes of the second nine. He's 8-under on holes 10 through 13 alone, including four consecutive birdies on those holes Saturday. His 16 birdies tie him for second most in the field.
TOUGHER COURSE: Three players carded 5-under rounds of 66 Saturday: leader Gene Sauers, Clarke and Brandt Jobe, who moved from a tie for 51st into the top 10.
That's four strokes off the 62 recorded by Robert Allenby in the second round and even one higher than the 65 that David Frost had in the first round. For the field, 71.11 was the average Saturday, compared to 71.05 Friday.
Generally, scoring average goes down for the weekend, when the struggling players have missed the cut and gone home.
MAPLE LEAF RAG: Five players with Canadian ties remain in the field. Excluding Stephen Ames -- born in Trinidad and Tobago and now a Canadian resident -- Glen Hnatiuk, Mike Weir, Ian Leggatt and Dave Barr all struggled in the third round.
The lowest Canadian, Hnatiuk, is in a tie for 50th after shooting an even-par round of 71. Weir shot a 3-over 74 to drop into a tie for 66th, while Leggatt had a 75 to tie for 75th. And 50-year-old Barr, who has competed on the PGA Tour, Senior Tour and Buy.com Tour this year, ballooned to an 80 to finish the day last in the field.
Inside the Numbers: Friday unkind to first-round leaders
SURREY, B.C. -- It wasn't a great day for the first-round leaders at the Air Canada Championship.
Thursday leader David Frost shot a 1-over 72 to fall into a tie for 19th. Starting on the 10th hole, Frost recorded bogeys on holes 14, 17 and 1 before recovering with an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole. The previous day, he'd turned in a bogey-free card with six birdies.
Frost's troubles could be attributed to the 10 additional putts he took in Friday's round -- 33 instead of the 23 he had in the first round.
Japan's Shigeki Maruyama was tied for second at the beginning of the day. By round's end, he was 12th thanks in part to a double bogey on the closing hole. Scott Gump shot a 66 Thursday and followed up with a 73 Friday to drop to a tie for 38th.
But it was Hank Kuehne, first on the Canadian Tour's money list and trying to play his way on to the PGA Tour, who had the most disappointing round. Kuehne got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first, then added three more front-nine bogeys, two birdies and a double. He also bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 to plunge into a tie for 90th and miss the cut.
Only consistent Australian Peter Lonard held steady. He remains tied for second with 66-67--133, one off the lead held by Craig Barlow.
GOING UP: On the other hand, the fall of the first-round leaders opened the door for other players to jump up the leaderboard.
Australian Robert Allenby, who narrowly missed a victory at last week's WGC-NEC Invitational, shot a 62 to move from a tie for 74th to a tie for second.
Allenby's 62, one off the course record held by Scott McCarron, included nine birdies and no bogeys. Four of the birdies were consecutive, coming on holes 11 through 14.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get the course record today, because it actually would be three weeks in a row, because I set the course record at the PGA (and the NEC Invitational)," Allenby said. "I was thinking about that, I was wondering what the course record is? I wish someone would have told me. Two more days."
FORTY-SOMETHINGS: Gene Sauers, a 40-year-old journeyman pro with two PGA Tour wins who splits his time between the PGA and Buy.com Tours, had a good day. He had six birdies on a bogey-free card to move from a tie for 43rd into a tie for fifth.
But Sauers wasn't the only player with plenty of experience to climb into contention. Blaine McCallister, 43, whose last win came at the 1993 B.C. Open, had his lowest round of the year with a 67 to tie for eighth going into the weekend. McCallister has made just five cuts in the 19 tournaments he'd played before this week. His best 2002 finish is a tie for 23rd at the Kemper.
While not yet in his 40s, 37-year-old Jim McGovern has his share of experience on the PGA Tour, though just one win, that coming at the 1993 Shell Houston Open. McGovern, who like Sauers splits his time between two tours, has gotten off to his best PGA Tour start of the year with 67-68--135 and is also tied for eighth.
PUTTING RECORD: Score another one for the veterans. Stan Utley took just six putts on the front nine.
Utley holed a sand shot and sank putts from off the green on two holes. He one-putted holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9, beating the old record set by Bill Nary in 1952 of seven putts on a nine.
Unfortunately, Utley came into the tournament with a hurt back and struggled with the other areas of his game. He hit just four fairways and six greens in regulation during his second round, and skidded to a 1-over 72. Paired with a first-round 77, that meant he missed the cut by eight shots.
"I have had a pretty fun year playing golf, and I've enjoyed my ball striking and I came up here and I knew on Tuesday that I had hurt my back," Utley said. "I kind of played for two days with really no legs and so that is probably the answer to how you (miss the cut). You have to hit it really bad."
CLOSING HOLES STRUGGLE: Last year, holes 17 and 18 cost Steve Lowery the Air Canada Championship title. He finished second after going 5- over on those holes for the week.
So far this year, Lowery is 3-over on that same pair of holes. Still, a runner-up finish here would make three second-place finishes or ties in two months. Lowery also finished tied for second at the Greater Milwaukee Open and second alone at The International, and has two more top-10s at the PGA Championship and last week's WGC-NEC Invitational.
Thursday leader David Frost shot a 1-over 72 to fall into a tie for 19th. Starting on the 10th hole, Frost recorded bogeys on holes 14, 17 and 1 before recovering with an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole. The previous day, he'd turned in a bogey-free card with six birdies.
Frost's troubles could be attributed to the 10 additional putts he took in Friday's round -- 33 instead of the 23 he had in the first round.
Japan's Shigeki Maruyama was tied for second at the beginning of the day. By round's end, he was 12th thanks in part to a double bogey on the closing hole. Scott Gump shot a 66 Thursday and followed up with a 73 Friday to drop to a tie for 38th.
But it was Hank Kuehne, first on the Canadian Tour's money list and trying to play his way on to the PGA Tour, who had the most disappointing round. Kuehne got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first, then added three more front-nine bogeys, two birdies and a double. He also bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 to plunge into a tie for 90th and miss the cut.
Only consistent Australian Peter Lonard held steady. He remains tied for second with 66-67--133, one off the lead held by Craig Barlow.
GOING UP: On the other hand, the fall of the first-round leaders opened the door for other players to jump up the leaderboard.
Australian Robert Allenby, who narrowly missed a victory at last week's WGC-NEC Invitational, shot a 62 to move from a tie for 74th to a tie for second.
Allenby's 62, one off the course record held by Scott McCarron, included nine birdies and no bogeys. Four of the birdies were consecutive, coming on holes 11 through 14.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get the course record today, because it actually would be three weeks in a row, because I set the course record at the PGA (and the NEC Invitational)," Allenby said. "I was thinking about that, I was wondering what the course record is? I wish someone would have told me. Two more days."
FORTY-SOMETHINGS: Gene Sauers, a 40-year-old journeyman pro with two PGA Tour wins who splits his time between the PGA and Buy.com Tours, had a good day. He had six birdies on a bogey-free card to move from a tie for 43rd into a tie for fifth.
But Sauers wasn't the only player with plenty of experience to climb into contention. Blaine McCallister, 43, whose last win came at the 1993 B.C. Open, had his lowest round of the year with a 67 to tie for eighth going into the weekend. McCallister has made just five cuts in the 19 tournaments he'd played before this week. His best 2002 finish is a tie for 23rd at the Kemper.
While not yet in his 40s, 37-year-old Jim McGovern has his share of experience on the PGA Tour, though just one win, that coming at the 1993 Shell Houston Open. McGovern, who like Sauers splits his time between two tours, has gotten off to his best PGA Tour start of the year with 67-68--135 and is also tied for eighth.
PUTTING RECORD: Score another one for the veterans. Stan Utley took just six putts on the front nine.
Utley holed a sand shot and sank putts from off the green on two holes. He one-putted holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9, beating the old record set by Bill Nary in 1952 of seven putts on a nine.
Unfortunately, Utley came into the tournament with a hurt back and struggled with the other areas of his game. He hit just four fairways and six greens in regulation during his second round, and skidded to a 1-over 72. Paired with a first-round 77, that meant he missed the cut by eight shots.
"I have had a pretty fun year playing golf, and I've enjoyed my ball striking and I came up here and I knew on Tuesday that I had hurt my back," Utley said. "I kind of played for two days with really no legs and so that is probably the answer to how you (miss the cut). You have to hit it really bad."
CLOSING HOLES STRUGGLE: Last year, holes 17 and 18 cost Steve Lowery the Air Canada Championship title. He finished second after going 5- over on those holes for the week.
So far this year, Lowery is 3-over on that same pair of holes. Still, a runner-up finish here would make three second-place finishes or ties in two months. Lowery also finished tied for second at the Greater Milwaukee Open and second alone at The International, and has two more top-10s at the PGA Championship and last week's WGC-NEC Invitational.
Inside the Numbers: Tough pins, greens defend Northview
SURREY, B.C. -- Who needs to make the courses longer? Just make accuracy important with tough pin placements, like players report seeing on the par-71 Northview course Thursday.
"Everywhere we go now they tend to say that they are going to make the courses longer and longer but they don't really need to make them longer. They just need to make them bouncier and make ball control a premium and the scores will never get out of control," said Peter Lonard after shooting a 66 for the second-lowest score of the day.
Even though, as Lonard said, the course played soft and therefore short, the scores didn't reflect a cakewalk.
That could have had something to do with the pins, leader David Frost said.
"This is the kind of course where you stay away from the flags. A lot of guys like to fly at the flags," Frost said after shooting 65. "This is the kind of course where you have to manage your iron shots, play away from the pins and try to give yourself a putt. I like the golf course. When I got here on Tuesday, I liked the conditions."
And then there's the greens, which are also challenging.
"I believe that because the poa annua green is a difficult grass it is tough to score on," said Shigeki Maruyama after shooting 66. "I was watching Vijay Singh in the group ahead of me and he was not making those putts either so I think it is the greens that are keeping the scores from going really low."
The lowest round recorded at the Air Canada is Scott McCarron's final-round 61 in 1999. But in the past five years, only 20 players have recorded all four rounds in the 60s.
STAYIN' ALIVE: If he can follow his 5-under 66 with another low round, Lonard will have made his 20th consecutive cut in his first season on the PGA Tour.
"My play has been pretty consistent, pretty much all year I suppose," Lonard said. "If you look at it in a broader picture, I suppose my average is good, but my best probably isn't good enough to win a tournament so far. I've definitely been improving and becoming more comfortable week in and week out."
World No. 1 Tiger Woods, who is not in the field this week, made his first 25 cuts, so Lonard still has a few to go to match that. But he has seven top-20 finishes in a row heading into the Air Canada Championship.
BOGEY TOLLES: Tommy Tolles teed off on the back nine Thursday to start his first round, and quickly racked up three birdies in a row. He went 7- under on the first eight holes with five birdies and an eagle on the par-4, 400- yard 14th hole.
The only error in Tolles' front nine, and the mistake that kept him from setting a new Tour record, was a double-bogey 6 on No. 18, his ninth. A birdie would have given him a 27, good for a tie for the best nine-hole score ever.
Tolles had a 30-37--67 to finish the day in a tie for sixth.
"Everywhere we go now they tend to say that they are going to make the courses longer and longer but they don't really need to make them longer. They just need to make them bouncier and make ball control a premium and the scores will never get out of control," said Peter Lonard after shooting a 66 for the second-lowest score of the day.
Even though, as Lonard said, the course played soft and therefore short, the scores didn't reflect a cakewalk.
That could have had something to do with the pins, leader David Frost said.
"This is the kind of course where you stay away from the flags. A lot of guys like to fly at the flags," Frost said after shooting 65. "This is the kind of course where you have to manage your iron shots, play away from the pins and try to give yourself a putt. I like the golf course. When I got here on Tuesday, I liked the conditions."
And then there's the greens, which are also challenging.
"I believe that because the poa annua green is a difficult grass it is tough to score on," said Shigeki Maruyama after shooting 66. "I was watching Vijay Singh in the group ahead of me and he was not making those putts either so I think it is the greens that are keeping the scores from going really low."
The lowest round recorded at the Air Canada is Scott McCarron's final-round 61 in 1999. But in the past five years, only 20 players have recorded all four rounds in the 60s.
STAYIN' ALIVE: If he can follow his 5-under 66 with another low round, Lonard will have made his 20th consecutive cut in his first season on the PGA Tour.
"My play has been pretty consistent, pretty much all year I suppose," Lonard said. "If you look at it in a broader picture, I suppose my average is good, but my best probably isn't good enough to win a tournament so far. I've definitely been improving and becoming more comfortable week in and week out."
World No. 1 Tiger Woods, who is not in the field this week, made his first 25 cuts, so Lonard still has a few to go to match that. But he has seven top-20 finishes in a row heading into the Air Canada Championship.
BOGEY TOLLES: Tommy Tolles teed off on the back nine Thursday to start his first round, and quickly racked up three birdies in a row. He went 7- under on the first eight holes with five birdies and an eagle on the par-4, 400- yard 14th hole.
The only error in Tolles' front nine, and the mistake that kept him from setting a new Tour record, was a double-bogey 6 on No. 18, his ninth. A birdie would have given him a 27, good for a tie for the best nine-hole score ever.
Tolles had a 30-37--67 to finish the day in a tie for sixth.
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