The Starter: Round 4, CA Championship

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Mar. 15, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

LIVE@: Coverage from Doral, starting at 8:50 a.m. ET

The first group will soon tee off in today's final round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
10:38 am ET		Zach Johnson, Retief Goosen Johnson's been steady, while Goosen's been erratic. Both can use the final round to work on their weaknesses.
1:20 pm ET		Tiger Woods, Ernie Els Neither Woods nor Els has had the week they hoped for. Can either finish his week at Doral on a high note?
2:45 pm ET		Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney Mickelson is one of golf's all-time greats. Watney is a fast-rising star. Which Butch Harmon pupil will prevail?

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Mark Carnevale previews Sunday's final round:

As we head into the final round, it certainly looks like it could be a two-horse race. Of course, maybe I'm stating the obvious. With Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney four shots clear of third place, it's pretty easy to say that. However, the final round will be played on the "Ides of March," also known as March 15th. What does that mean? Well, that maybe something unusual might happen, even though I doubt that.

Seems like the Ides might have started early as a number of players got themselves into good position heading into the final stretch of holes at the Blue Monster. But Jim Furyk, Rory McIIroy, Rod Pampling and others struggled to finish their rounds off after getting to 12 under. One player who didn't falter was Camillo Villegas, who sits in a tie for third at 12 under. Lest we forget, Camilo came from behind to win his first PGA TOUR event at the BMW Championship in St. Louis last year. Oh, and don't forget he is a favorite son in Miami, so the fans will be urging him on.

Sunday's forecast

Mostly Sunny
Temp: 83 high/69 low
Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds, and gusty. Winds will come out of the southeast at 10 to 20 mph.

If I weren't going to be working today, you could be sure I would be on the first tee following the pairing of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, who tee off at 1:20 p.m. I was with Tiger in Round 3, and there were many signs he is making progress. His ball striking and driving were very good, but he continued to struggle with the putter. He jokingly said he thought he might go to the belly putter with a saw grip.

I asked him, "How difficult was it for you to be patient with you progress on the course?" And his response was, "It was hard not to get frustrated." According to Tiger, he has hit 19 putts that have caught the lip and not fallen this week. As he has done through this tournament, I would expect Tiger to keep improving in Round 4. He's probably not going to win, but be assured it will be exciting. There was a little hop in Tiger's step in Round 3, and I would expect he is not far from a gallop.

CA's executives and the organizers of the CA Championship have to be pleased with the event so far. There have been great crowds and great golf this week. I would expect that during the final round there is also going to be some drama -- some good, some bad. It's not to say that the players have dominated the Blue Monster, but, my, there have been bunches of birdies and a lot of excitement.

My suggestion would be to keep things as they are, don't try to make it tougher. After all, fans truly come out to watch good golf and birdies, not bogeys. So my grade for the CA Championship this week is a BIG A+.

Stat of the day

This is the first time there has been a tie for the third-round lead in CA Championship history, as Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney are tied at 16-under 200 through 54 holes. That total matches the lowest since the event moved to Doral in 2007, and is just three shots off the event's 54-hole record of 19 under, which was set by Tiger Woods.

FEDEXCUP NOTEBOOK: FINAL ROUND

• Only five players could pass Geoff Ogilvy with a victory this week: Kenny Perry, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Nick Watney and Pat Perez.

• No player can pass Ogilvy with a solo second place finish.

• 30 players could move as high as second in the standings with a victory.

Phil Mickelson
FedExCup Rank: 7
FedExCup Points: 603

• Mickelson would move into second place in the standings with a victory.

• After earning a total of 35 points in his first three starts, Mickelson has made up for it with 588 points in his last two starts.

• Mickelson enters this week ranked 150th in scrambling.

Nick Watney
FedExCup Rank: 5
FedExCup Points: 655

• Looking for his second victory of the season, Watney could move to first in the standings with a victory.

• Watney has finished in the top 25 in each of his first four starts of the season.

• Showing a good combination of power and touch, Watney entered this week ranked seventh in driving distance and 12th in scrambling.

NOTEWORTHY NUGGETS:
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau

• One area of his game that everyone thought Tiger Woods would show the least amount of rust was putting. But after three rounds at Doral, Woods is putting to a 1.816 average, tying him for 71st out of 79 golfers in the field. For Woods, who is playing in his 238th event on the PGA TOUR, it's just the 15th time that he has ranked this low in the field for putting after 54 holes. The last such occurrence came at the 2007 PLAYERS Championship, when Woods ranked 74th in the field with a 1.935 average.

• Soren Hansen tied the lowest round of the week with a third-round 64, and his 8-under round included a streak of six 3s on the back nine. He eagled two par 5s and also had two birdies and two pars in a stretch from the 10th through the 15th hole. Hansen's streak of six straight 3s ties the fifth-longest streak in the last 25 years (minimum two par-5 holes). The longest such streak over that span was by Charles Howell III in the first round of the 2004 Booz Allen Classic. Howell made eight straight 3s from the second through the ninth holes, going 8 under par through that stretch. Howell went on to finish second.

• Nick Watney is putting on a scrambling show, scrambling successfully to a rate of 94.4 percent. No par save was better then the one he made on the 18th hole to maintain a share of the lead heading into the final round. For Watney, it's his best scrambling rate (min. 15 greens missed) after 54 holes of a PGA TOUR event. His previous best came at the 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, when after three rounds he scrambled successfully 82.4 percent of the time.

The last player to scramble this well at Doral (min. 15 greens missed) was Franklin Langham during the 2005 Ford Championship. Langham posted scrambling numbers of 95.7 percent after three rounds of action.

• Phil Mickelson, who is tied for the lead heading into the final round, leads the field with 22 birdies, tying for the fifth-most par breakers that he has ever had through the first three rounds of any tournament on the PGA TOUR. The most par-breakers he has had through the first three rounds is 26, at the 2006 BellSouth Classic, a tournament that he went on to win.

Thus far at Doral

Round	Leader	Low round (par 72)	Key links
	Phil Mickelson, Jeev Milkha Singh, Prayad Marksaeng, Retief Goosen (-7)	65: Mickelson, Singh, Marksaeng, Goosen	Daily Wrap-up \| Live Report Ross column \| T.J.'s Take
	Phil Mickelson (-13)	64: Kenny Perry, Alvaro Quiros	Daily Wrap-up \| Live Report Ross column \| T.J.'s Take
	Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney (-16)	64: Soren Hansen	Daily Wrap-up \| Live Report Ross column \| T.J.'s Take

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry updates action from the third round at Doral and previews what to watch for in the final round. Watch it
	Shot of the day Tiger Woods, bunkered at the par-4 16th, holes his third for a birdie in the third round of the CA Championship. Watch it
	Mick and Nick Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney enter the final round tied for the lead at 16 under. After their rounds Saturday, they met the media to discuss their situations.Watch it