Stricker still 5 clear at Kapalua

Golf Betting Lines

01/08/2012 - Kapalua, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker needed a late rally to keep his comfortable lead on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Wisconsin native birdied the final four holes to keep his five-stroke lead after three rounds of the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Stricker carded a four-under 69 to end 54 holes at 19-under-par 200.

He will go for his 12th PGA Tour title on Monday at Kapalua. Stricker has won five of the last six times he has owned at least a piece of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.

Defending champion Jonathan Byrd and Scotland's Martin Laird both shot six- under 67 Sunday to move into a share of second at minus-14. They were joined there by Webb Simpson, who posted a four-under 69 in round three.

Bryce Molder (67) and Kevin Na (71) are tied for fifth at 11-under-par 208.

Stricker led by five entering the round, but got off to a slow start with six consecutive pars. He posted his first birdie on the seventh as he drained a 20-footer.

However, he gave that stroke right back with a three-putt bogey on the par- three eighth.

Stricker was still three clear at that point, but as he parred the next six holes Simpson inched within one of the lead.

Much like he did in the first two rounds, Stricker caught fire down the stretch. He two-putted for birdie on the par-five 15th. Stricker spun his short approach off the front edge on 16.

No worries, though. He chipped in for birdie to push his lead back to three strokes.

Stricker stuffed his approach within four feet at 17 and poured that birdie putt in. At the 18th, he came up just short with his second, but rolled an eagle effort within two feet. Stricker kicked that in for birdie to finish his second straight round with a five-stroke cushion.

"It was a struggle today. Not a lot of good things happened," admitted Stricker in a televised interview. "I stayed patient, I really did. I kind of stole one with the chip in on 16.

"When you're leading a golf tournament, it is so hard to keep the momentum. I had such a good day [Saturday], and when you're not making birdies, you feel like you're letting things slip away. And that's what I was feeling like. Fortunately, I had a good finish."

Stricker has played the 15th through 18th at 11-under with nine birdies, an eagle and two pars.

Byrd stumbled to bogeys on the second and third to tumble nine strokes back at the time. He got those strokes right back with a birdie on the fourth and an eagle on No. 5.

After three straight pars, Byrd birdied five of seven holes from the ninth to soar to 14-under. He parred the last three to share second.

"I had a rough start. I made two poor bogeys starting out. I hit a good wedge on four near that accessible pin, then eagled five," Byrd explained on television. "I hadn't played the par-fives real well, so making that eagle got me back in it feeling like I was playing good again."

Laird had four birdies on the front nine before faltering to his only bogey on No. 11. He erased that mistake with a birdie at 12. Back-to-back birdies from the 15th moved Laird to minus-14. He parred the last two.

"It was tough to make some putts out here. The greens are grainy with lots of slopes, so it takes a few holes to get used to the reads," Laird said in a TV interview. "That was kind of the case today."

Simpson had one birdie through seven holes. He carded three birdies in a five- hole span from the eighth to get to 14-under. Simpson was just one back, but the 16th proved to be a tough turning point.

Like Stricker, Simpson spun his approach off the green. Simpson failed to get it up and down, and his bogey dropped him four back. He did two-putt for birdie at the last to get back to minus-14.

It may have only been a four-under 69 for Simpson, but it was pretty impressive as he put a new driver in his bag moments before the round started. Simpson cracked the face of his old driver on the practice range, but was able to get a new one before his round began.

Harrison Frazar had the low round of the day with his seven-under 66. He jumped three spots into seventh place at 10-under-par 209.

NOTES: Stricker is 7-of-13 in his PGA Tour career with at least a piece of the 54-hole lead...Americans own 18 of the top 21 spots on the leaderboard...The event has a scheduled Monday finish with the tee times pushed up two hours so that the round ends prior to the start of college football's national championship game.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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