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Saturday
Sep122009

Meanwhile, back in the pack ...

Writing from Lemont, Ill.
Saturday, September 12, 2009

Lambs going to the slaughterhouse aren't as happy as Brandt Snedeker was on Saturday afternoon.

He had just shot a 5-under-par 66 and moved into a tie for second place on Dubsdread, totaling 9-under-par 204 after three rounds of the 106th Western Open, a.k.a. the BMW Championship.

All was right with the world. That little detail about trailing leader Tiger Woods by seven strokes entering the final round? A mere bagatelle.

And Snedeker, an optimistic chap by nature, is delighted to be paired with Woods in Sunday's final game, a 12:55 p.m. teeoff.

"It'll be a fun day," Snedeker said. "I've played with everybody else. It's weird, there's probably five guys I've never played with out here in three years. I see them every day, we're friends, but I've never played with them on the golf course. Tiger is one of them."

Almost always, Woods outscores whomever he plays with. Snedeker says he'll take the chance.

"Are you kidding me?" Snedeker said. "Playing with the best guy in the world, hopefully in the last group? It'll be fantastic. That's what you want. You want to play with the best when they're playing their best and see what you've got and see what you need to work on.

"If you told me at the beginning of the week I was playing with Tiger Woods on Sunday, I think I would have liked my position."

Maybe Snedeker is just saying that because he's punchy. At least he should be punchy. He's played 13 of the last 14 weeks, missing only at Firestone four weeks ago.

The race to Atlanta

The FedEx Cup playoff thingie reaches its qualification climax Sunday, when the field for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta is set. Only 30 will advance.

Matt Kuchar entered the week 46th. He's tied for fourth in the Western with Padraig Harrington. The PGA Tour stat gurus believe Kuchar has to finish fourth to lock up a spot. And Kuchar, who went to college at Georgia Tech, just a few miles from East Lake, really wants to play there.

"I've struggled a bit with goal-setting, but I tried to do some and making the Tour Championship is right about at No. 1 for me," Kuchar said. "I haven't been able to make it, and now I have an awfully good shot.

"I don't know how (the playoffs) have treated all the other players, but it's given me a chance."

Playing at Cog Hill, where Kuchar won the 1997 U.S. Amateur, hasn't hurt his chances.

"I've had a lot of great support from the staff inside (the clubhouse)," Kuchar said, citing well-wishes from veteran employees who remember his victory.

"The golf course itself still has the feeling I remember from '97, though it's changed a lot. It's a lot meaner than I remember. There are a lot of hard bunkers, a lot more penalizing than I remember it being in '97. I was walking around in practice rounds just shaking my head thinking how hard this golf course has become."

Tiger Take 2

Tiger Woods' 62 is a stroke off his PGA Tour-best of 61, recorded three times, most recently at Warwick Hills Country Club during the 2005 Buick Open. It helped lower his third-round scoring average in the Western Open to 66.64 in 11 appearances as a professional. Along with four wins, he has four other top-10 finishes.

Around Dubsdread

Mark Wilson played with Woods and was lost in the shuffle. He scored even-par 71 and might as well have been a plowhorse next to Secretariat. … The field averaged 70.706 strokes on Dubsdread, and has averaged 71.063 strokes through three rounds. … The estimated attendance of 40,000 brought the three-day total to 83,500. … Kevin Na's 6-under-par 65 was the second-best round of the day, and moved him to a tie for 18th.

– Tim Cronin

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