Wi gains 8 strokes to lead at Colonial
David Toms opened with rounds of 62-62 (equaling the best opening 36-hole score on TOUR dating to 1970) and entered the third round with a seven-stroke cushion (equaling the largest at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and largest on TOUR since Tiger Woods held the same advantage at the 2000 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational). He struggled on Saturday, however, with a 4-over 74 to fall to 12-under and a one-stroke deficit to Charlie Wi entering the final round. Toms was gracious with hit praise for Wi, “I know Charlie, he putted great today. He kept the pressure on all day. He made everything that seemed to be a makeable putt. He made a lot of good par putts. He made some good birdie putts. He played like you have to play with the conditions that we had today, where they were tough.”
Wi posted a 4-under 66 to storm into the lead with just 18 holes remaining at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He’ll enter the final round one stroke clear of Toms (74). This marks the first time Wi has carried the lead into the final round on the PGA TOUR. His best position heading into the final 18 holes on TOUR is T2 – eventually finishing fourth after a 69 at the 2010 AT&T National and T8 after a 74 at the 2010 BMW Championship. Wi has never missed the cut in three starts at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, with a T15 in 2008 his best finish. While Wi has made 10 of 13 cuts this season, including this week, his best 2011 finish is a T16 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He is currently No. 104 in the FedExCup standings. Wi is among a group of three players (Marc Leishman, Steven Bowditch) inside the top 10 on the leaderboard seeking to become the eighth player to post their first TOUR win at the Colonial, and the first since Sergio Garcia in 2001.
The double bogey on the par-4 14th hole for David Toms was his first double in his last
343 holes at Colonial Country Club. Toms is making his 11th start of the year and is coming off a playoff loss to K.J. Choi at THE PLAYERS Championship – the 14th runner-up finish of his career. He is No. 22 on the FedExCup points list. “I felt like they were protecting the course today” commented Toms, “Some of the pins we had for the wind directions that we were playing, you know, it was tough to get the ball close to the pin and then shoot a low number. That’s fine. It should be tough on the weekend, especially after a guy had already ripped up the golf course. If I’m Colonial, I want it to play tougher. So I have no problems with the way it played. I just didn’t play very well.”
John Senden posted an even-par 70 on Saturday and will enter the final round four strokes behind Charlie Wi. Of his last 11 rounds at Colonial Country Club, Senden owns nine rounds in the 60s and 10 rounds at par-or-better. In eight previous starts at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a T9 in 2004 represents his only top-10 finish among six made cuts. Senden won his lone PGA TOUR title at the 2006 John Deere Classic. “I think the wind factor was an issue today”, Senden commented, “Shooting par and picking up ground is not a bad thing around here but this is the way this place goes. It’s springtime in Texas, and it’s always going to be windy. You go out there and do your job and see what happens at the end of the day.”
Stuart Appleby followed up a 6-under 64 on Friday with a 3-under 67 to move to 8-under 202 through three rounds, five strokes behind Charlie Wi.
Just one week after finishing third at THE PLAYERS Championship, Paul Goydos (No. 37 in the FedExCup standings) is in contention once again this week. After a third-round, 3-under 67, he’ll enter the final round T4 and five strokes behind Wi.
The round of the day belonged to D.J. Trahan with a 5-under 65. He enters the final round T7.
Twelve past champions were competing this week at Colonial, with five making the cut: Rory Sabbatini (T7), Zach Johnson (T29), and Sergio Garcia (T29), Tim Herron (T48) and Steve Flesch (T48).
Martin Laird had the only bogey-free round of the day.
See our photo gallery from Round 3.
