2009 PGA Championship Clippings: The Final Round Got A Lot More Interesting Edition

A golf tournament broke out Saturday amidst commercial breaks. So before we get to the scribblers, a word about CBS from new Tweeter Lloyd Cole.

I don't know about the Paddy to win part, but on a day filled with so many holed putts, exciting chip-ins, big charges and a wild mix of old and fresh names coming out of the woods, Saturday's telecast felt like a nice tour event and most definitely not a major. And it's all CBS's doing.

Starting with the Cialis sponsored recap of Rich Beem's 2002 win, the relentless bumpers plugging CBS shows, the seemingly constant commercial breaks on top of breaks just seconds before, a meaningless FedEx Cup points standing list (hey how about that Presidents Cup, oh right...), the awful dentist office music, a tacky Mercedes logo on the leaderboard and Gary McCord lending a Buick Open air to the broadcast, you really get to see why the Lords of Augusta keep these guys on a tight leash. Too bad the PGA of America doesn't get tougher and demand a Players Championship-like presentation, because the quality of the broadcast cheapens the PGA as a major no matter how great a show the players put on.

Okay, now that I got that off my chest...gentlemen, boot your laptops...

Larry Dorman in the New York Times:

A swarm of challengers took aim at Tiger Woods in the third round of the P.G.A. Championship on Saturday, firing at flags and making enough putts and noise to let Woods know they were coming after his four-stroke lead.

Doug Ferguson leads this way: "Tiger Woods is one round away from winning another major, with more company than he wanted.

James Corrigan in the Independent:

So much for this major being over. Somebody forgot to tell Padraig Harrington. Or then again, they probably didn't. The Irishman just chose to ignore all the USPGA obituaries, re-insert those manic eyeballs of his and try for the charge of his life. Harrington picked himself up from the dead men and dared to challenge the immortal.

Lawrence Donegan in the Guardian:

Say what you like about the Hazeltine National golf course, and the critics have been queuing up over the last few days to slate its excessive length and lack of aesthetic appeal, but it sure knows how to serve up a tasty leaderboard to whet the appetite for the final round of a major championship.

Jeff Babineau says:

Strange as this may sound – deep breath, everyone – Tiger Woods may not quite be the lock we all believe he is. Sure, he’s a heavy favorite, but despite his words late Saturday – that his card was “clean” – Woods could not have been very pleased with his performance down the stretch at Hazeltine National. A third-round 71, even considering the wind, unearthed some flaws and accomplished little more than keeping Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang at arm’s length.

And this was a wacky revelation:

Ireland’s largest bookmaker, Paddy Power, believed Woods to be such a lock BEFORE he even teed off Saturday that it agreed to pay off all those punters holding Woods win tickets two days early, so that they could “get their cash now and enjoy the rest of the weekend on us!”

Gee, thanks. The pricetag: More than $2 million. Nice gesture, or a Paddy blunder?

Steve Elling looks at Padraig's plight heading into Sunday, and leads with this anecdote:

At that point in their respective careers, Padraig Harrington was 1 up over Tiger Woods, though the ledger has been adjusted somewhat since. He and a fellow amateur named Jody Fanagan teamed to beat Woods and his partner, leading the Great Britian and Ireland to a major upset of the U.S. at the Walker Cup.

But that's not the humorous part, at least not to me. Fanagan owns a chain of funeral homes,so Woods and his partner got body bagged by a policeman's son, Harrington, and a veritable mortician.

"My friend would not be happy with being called a mortician," Harrington laughed.

Thomas Bonk explores the inevitably-nauseating Padraig-Tiger bromance:

Woods has long considered Harrington to be a class act because of his professionalism and work ethic. And Harrington, like Woods, plays through pain, including this week while battling back spasm. You can be sure that Woods also respects Harrington for undertaking something as difficult as making a swing change while at the peak of his game -- because Woods has done the same thing.

Gary Van Sickle on Sunday's potential for excitement:

We don't care who gets it done. We want exactly the same thing that CBS wants — a good show. Tension. Drama. Heroics. A thrilling finish. Can anybody here hang with Tiger?

Harrington sympathizes, to a point. "I get the impression that there's a lot of people who are cheering me on and wanting me to push him (Tiger) along but they still want Tiger to win," he says. "They like the idea of, Let's support the underdog until he catches up, then we'll support Tiger again. That's fine with me. I'll serve my time."

Jon Krawcynski tells us about Y.E. Yang making the final pairing and shares this quote:

“With Woods, he’s won 70 times now, and I’ve won only won once,” Yang said through an interpreter. “So it’s sort of 70-to-1 odds. So I might as well go for broke as well.”

Gene Wojciechowski talks to other players about what Yang faces as Woods' playing partner and reminds us of another Tiger feat on the line Sunday: "No player has ever won at least one major in five consecutive years."

The re-ermergence of Ernie Els at a major inspired several. Scott Michaux on Els' run Saturday:

Els ended up shaving only one shot off of his deficit to Woods, sitting five back and tied for sixth with playing partner Soren Kjeldsen. If Els could have finished the day off with three pars, he would have teed off with Harrington immediately in front of Woods in the final round and given the world No. 1 the chase everyone is hungry to see.

"You could definitely feel that and could feel that there was a real championship going on here and it wasn't a runaway deal," Els said of the mood on the course Saturday before he and several other star challengers stumbled at the end. "It looked like a runaway thing at the end of [Friday] but it looks like the guys are set to really give Tiger a go here and the crowd could really sense that."

Dave Shedloski saw a fiery side to Els not seen in a long time.

Els slapped disgustedly at a sign Saturday after talking to reporters but appeared otherwise calm. He admits composure might be his biggest hurdle -- after his putting. Despite a 68 on Friday, the big South African was candid about nearly losing control after failing to hole short birdie opportunities to start the round.

"I could have been out of here," he said. "I almost lost my head a couple of times, so it's miraculous that I stayed in the process. I don't care how strong you are in the mind ... some of the putts I keep missing, you could be the Man Upstairs and you would be upset."

Bob Harig saw the same fire and notes this about Ernie's improved putting:

The three-time major champion from South Africa, who has won more than 60 times around the world, switched to a Callaway putter that has been made to look and feel like an old model he used when having success in the 1990s.

The switch has given him hope, even if the ball is not disappearing. He ranks 157th on the PGA Tour this year in putting.

David Kindred on Alviro Quiros who CBS showed plenty of...well, putting mostly.

His playing partner Saturday, the American John Rollins, didn't know much more than this about Quiros: "He told me I was likely to see the ball in lies that I didn't know existed." Which is to say Quiros always hits it a long way but only sometimes knows its destination.

Mark Soltau's lipouts include this from Quiros:

"I couldn't say to the media. I enjoy being with my friends and the good weather where I live. I like surfing a little bit. I play soccer, basketball. I mean a little of all. I like sports." -- Quiros, on not wanting to say how he spends his off time, but coming clean anyway

Dan Jenkins was honored Saturday and the AP notes column quoted him:

“Somebody asked me, ‘How long are you going to do this,”’ the 79-year-old said. “I told them I’m not qualified to do anything else. I’ll be here until they carry me out. The message on my tombstone will be, ‘I knew this was coming.”’

David Axelrod and Mandrake the Magician offer their video thoughts and a Sunday preview. Governor William J. Le Petomane Richardson and Lex Luther fire up one more appearance with a downpour in the background and a shout out to the "blogosphere." (A plug would have been nice!).

Lex also interviews Kerry Haigh about his Saturday setup and asks if we'll someday see an 8,000 yard course at a major. Love Haigh's answer: hope not!

Weinman and Johnson's birdie/bogey package includes this tribute to those shrewd fans of the greater St. Paul area.

Bogey: Readers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press -- Saturday's edition included the results to a poll question as to which player would you most like to spend a week with: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Anthony Kim or Sergio Garcia. Hard as it is to believe, Daly won with 42.32 percent of the vote. Woods was second at 32.35 and Garcia, dead last at 3.25 percent. Daly over Woods? Come on, people!

Sunday's tee times, weather permitting because as Rex Hoggard reports there is even a chance for an unusual and very un-Baltusrol like re-pairing if poor weather arrives overnight. It'll be about 75 and no chance of rain here in LA where they'll never bring the PGA again. Just an FYI.

And the last word belongs to Mr. Jenkins: