Round 4 Notes – Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
Fourth-Round Notes – Saturday, January 19, 2008Final round tee times will run from 8:40 a.m. to 10:40 p.m. (Pacific Time) with players grouped in threesomes off of both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Play is scheduled to finish at approximately 4:00 PM PT
The cut came at 7-under-par 281 with 76 players advancing to the final round on Sunday.
The start of play was delayed at La Quinta Country Club Saturday morning due to frost. The starting times at La Quinta CC were pushed back 15 minutes. There was not a delay at the other three courses.
Justin Leonard moved our front by four strokes thanks to a 6-under 66 at The Classic Club on Saturday. The last time he won in Palm Desert (2005) he fired a final-round 67 (PW), coming from three strokes behind to overtake 72-hole leader Joe Ogilvie.
Justin Leonard’s progression/standings after each round of his 11 tournament wins:
Tournament Standings after:
18 36 54 72 90
1996 Buick Open T2 (-1) 1 (+2) 1 (+1) 1 (+5)
1997 Kemper Open T12 (-3) T7 (-4) T4 (-5) 1 (+1)
1997 British Open T3 (-2) 2 (-2) T3 (-5) 1 (+3)
1998 THE PLAYERS Ch. T42 (-6) T13 (-4) 3 (-5) 1 (+2)
2000 Westin Texas Open T1 (4-way) T2 (-1) 1 (+2) 1 (+5)
2001 Texas Open/LaCantera T2 (-1) 1 (+3) 1 (+2) 1 (+2)
2002 WORLDCOM Classic T9 (-5) T2 (-2) 1 (+3) 1 (+1)
2003 The Honda Classic T1 (3-way) T10 (-3) 2 (-1) 1 (+1)
2005 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic T11 (-2) T12 (-6) T15 (-8) 3 (-3) 1 (+3)
2005 FedEx St. Jude Classic 1 (+3) 1 (+5) 1 (+8) 1 (+1)
2007 Valero Texas Open T2 (-4) 5 (-6) 3 (-4) Won Playoff
Key: (-1) = one stroke behind the leader (+2) = two strokes ahead
Justin Leonard has now recorded five of his 11 PGA TOUR titles as the final round front-runner.
Justin Leonard’s record as a leader/co-leader entering the final round of a tournament:
Tournament Lead Finish
1996 Phoenix Open 1 (+2) P2
1996 Buick Open 1 (+1) Win
1997 Motorola Western Open T1 (3-way) T3
1997 PGA Championship T1 (2-way) 2
2000 Westin Texas Open 1 (+2) Win
2001 Texas Open/LaCantera 1 (+2) Win
2002 WORLDCOM Classic 1 (+3) Win
2002 PGA Championship 1 (+3) T4
2005 FedEx St. Jude Classic 1 (+8) Win
Robert Gamez, who fired a 1-under 71 at The Classic Club, moved to 19-under-par 269 and sits in second, four strokes back of leader Justin Leonard. Gamez was given a sponsor’s exemption this week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. The last player to win an event after receiving a sponsor’s exemption was Jason Gore at the 2005 84 Lumber Classic.
Only 21 of the 48 leaders/co-leaders through 72 holes have gone on to win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. The last player to go to win with the 72-hole lead was Chad Campbell in 2006.
Fred Couples, who made the cut on the number on Saturday, moves into second all-time on the tournament’s cuts made list with 22, two behind leader Peter Jacobsen (24).
Defending champion Charley Hoffman posted a 9-under 63 at The Classic Club to move to 14-under 274, but he’ll enter the final round 10 strokes behind Justin Leonard. Last year, Hoffman came from four strokes back to win in a playoff over John Rollins.
Anthony Kim fired a 6-under 66 at La Quinta Country Club on Saturday and is at 19-under 269, four strokes behind Justin Leonard. Kim, who is 22 years old, could become the youngest winner of the event with a victory on Sunday. Jack Nicklaus is the youngest winner when he won the BHCC at the age of 23.
Anthony Kim opened today’s fourth round by shooting a 6-under 30 over his first nine holes. It’s the best front or back nine posted by Kim in his PGA TOUR career. Kim’s previous best had been two 5-under par efforts; round one at the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and round four at the 2007 Nissan Open.
Best rounds of the day:
The Classic Club 63, Charley Hoffman
Palmer Private at PGA West 63, Matt Kuchar
La Quinta Country Club 63, Dustin Johnson
SilverRock Resort 65, Heath Slocum
Best rounds of the week:
The Classic Club 63, Charley Hoffman
Palmer Private at PGA West 62, Boo Weekley, Jim McGovern
La Quinta Country Club 63, Dustin Johnson
SilverRock Resort 64, D.J. Trahan
There have been a total of 46 bogey-free rounds so far this week, including 16 on Saturday:
La Quinta – Dustin Johnson (63), Matt Jones (66), Robert Allenby (64), Johnson Wagner (65), Michael Allen (69)
The Classic Club – Steve Marino (66), Rich Beem (66), Woody Austin (67)
SilverRock – Bart Bryant (67), Heath Slocum (65), Jeff Maggert (66), Olin Browne (68), Billy Mayfair (69)
Palmer Private – Steve Flesch (65), J.J. Henry (69), Pat Sheehan (65)
Scoring Averages at the four courses:
Course Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Rd 4 Cumulative
The Classic Club 69.969 70.969 70.375 69.871 70.299
Palmer Private at PGA West 69.813 70.969 68.500 68.710 69.504
La Quinta Country Club 69.688 70.531 69.438 69.906 69.891
SilverRock Resort 70.125 71.405 70.500 70.094 70.539
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