Ogilvy overcomes 8-shot deficit

Updated: March 12, 2005, 11:28 PM ET

Associated Press

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Another gusty day at the Honda Classic made the golfers' loud trousers ripple. Geoff Ogilvy kept calm in the wind, fortified by winning his first PGA Tour title just two weeks ago.

The Australian mounted a charge in difficult conditions Saturday, erasing an eight-shot deficit to tie Brett Wetterich for the lead after three rounds. While none of the players among the top eight at the start of the day broke par, Ogilvy shot an 8-under 64 to reach 12 under after 54 holes.

"I just kept hitting nice shots and getting good putts," he said. "Maybe six months ago, sneaking right up the leaderboard deep on Saturday, I might have gotten a bit more nervous than I did. I was nothing but comfortable."

Ogilvy won at Tucson, his first title in 108 tour starts, and then took last week off.

"Everyone congratulating you on your first week back is quite nice," he said. "You don't get tired of that. ... There's a big psychological boost to winning a tournament. It makes you believe you're a better player, I think."

Five golfers among the top 10 on the leaderboard will bid for their first tour title Sunday. That includes Wetterich, who began the third round alone in the lead, scrambled to a 72 and joined Ogilvy at 204.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen three-putted No. 18 for a bogey to fall out of a three-way tie for the lead. A round of 72 left him 11-under and tied withPat Perez.

"At the start of the week, all you want to do is have a chance on Sunday," Janzen said. He's seeking his first title since winning the Open in 1998.

Perez, a fourth-year tour veteran seeking his first win, shot 67.

With gusty conditions and the elevated greens firmer than in the first two rounds, bogeys became more frequent on the long Country Club at Mirasol course. But the wind it failed to faze Ogilvy.

Shrugging off a first-round 73, he began to surge Saturday when he birdied four of the first six holes. He also finished with a flourish, sinking birdie putts on Nos. 17 and 18. Ogilvy missed only three greens and needed just 26 putts.

Two shots behind was American Joe Ogilvie, who reached 10-under with a 67 and was poised to create considerable confusion in the final round.

"We very regularly get each other's stuff in our lockers," leader Ogilvy said of the fifth-place Ogilvie. "He has probably been congratulated a few times this week for winning in Tucson, because I've been congratulated when he plays well. It's a bit of a running joke between us. We have a law firm -- Ogilvy and Ogilvie."

Another twosome, Wetterich and Janzen, played in the final pairing Saturday and swapped the lead three times early. They struggled on the back nine and slipped back to Ogilvy.

"Once you get to 13, every hole seems to be into the wind coming in," Janzen said. "You've got to hit a lot of good shots just to make par."

Wetterich could only agree. On No. 15, he drove into a hazard and took a stroke penalty before sinking a 12-foot putt to save bogey. That dropped him out of a three-way share for first.

He regained a tie for the top at No. 17 when he hit a bunker shot from about 100 feet to within six inches of the pin for a birdie. He retained a share of the lead despite missing eight fairways.

"I felt really proud of myself," he said. "I thought I really hung in there, especially the last six or seven holes."

Among those undone by the wind and fast greens was Chad Campbell, unable to build on a 64 that gave him the first-round lead. He bogeyed six consecutive holes on the back nine, shot 80 and fell to 1-under.

Davis Love III, runner-up the past two years, double-bogeyed three of the final five holes and shot 78 to drop to 2-over.

No. 2-ranked Vijay Singh, the lone player entered among the world's top six, shot 70 and was 6-under. Todd Hamilton, the champion last year, shot 72 and was 4-under.

A few players thrived in the gusty conditions -- 1993 champion Fred Couples andMark Hensby each shot 66. Couples was 8-under and Hensby was 6-under.

Divots

Campbell had the longest drive of the day, hitting his tee shot 317 yards at the par-5 No. 12. He still made bogey, starting his run of six in a row. ... Eight players have won their first PGA Tour title at the Honda, including Hamilton last year.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

SBC Classic second-round scores

Updated: March 12, 2005, 8:23 PM ET

Associated Press

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SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Scores Saturday from the second round of the SBC Classic at Valencia Country Club:

Keith Fergus             72-65--137    7-under



Mark McNulty             72-66--138    6-under

Gary McCord              74-66--140    4-under
D.A. Weibring            71-69--140

Mike Reid                70-71--141    3-under

Isao Aoki                69-73--142    2-under

Lanny Wadkins            73-70--143    1-under
Don Pooley               72-71--143
Des Smyth                71-72--143
Bob Gilder               71-72--143

Wayne Levi               76-68--144    Even
Vance Heafner            74-70--144
Tom McKnight             74-70--144
Morris Hatalsky          73-71--144
Craig Stadler            72-72--144

Tom Purtzer              72-73--145    1-over
Don Reese                72-73--145
Allen Doyle              77-69--146

Howard Twitty            77-69--146    2-over
Dana Quigley             77-69--146
Andy Bean                76-70--146
Hajime Meshiai           76-70--146
Bruce Fleisher           75-71--146
Lonnie Nielsen           74-72--146
Hale Irwin               73-73--146
David Eger               73-73--146
Jerry Pate               72-74--146

Graham Marsh             77-70--147    3-over
Vicente Fernandez        76-71--147
Bobby Wadkins            75-72--147
Jim Thorpe               74-73--147
J.C. Snead               73-74--147
Brad Bryant              73-74--147

Larry Nelson             77-71--148    4-over
Leonard Thompson         76-72--148
Ben Crenshaw             76-72--148
Paul Parajeckas          75-73--148
R.W. Eaks                75-73--148
Tom Wargo                75-73--148
Tom Jenkins              73-75--148
Mark Johnson             70-78--148

Bruce Summerhays         78-71--149    5-over
Jim Colbert              77-72--149
Pat McGowan              76-73--149
Curtis Strange           77-72--149
Gil Morgan               76-73--149
John Fought              75-74--149

Mark McCumber            77-73--150    6-over
Ed Fiori                 77-73--150
John Bland               76-74--150
Dave Eichelberger        75-75--150
Walter Hall              74-76--150

Ed Dougherty             78-73--151    7-over
Bob Eastwood             78-73--151
Mike Sullivan            78-73--151
Fuzzy Zoeller            76-75--151
Hubert Green             76-75--151
Mike McCullough          73-78--151

Joe Inman                80-72--152    8-over
Jim Albus                77-75--152
Jim Dent                 77-75--152
Rodger Davis             77-75--152

Bruce Lietzke            82-71--153    9-over

John Ross                77-77--154    10-over
Ron Streck               77-77--154
Raymond Floyd            71-83--154

Jay Sigel                81-74--155    11-over
John Mahaffey            79-76--155
Bill Rogers              79-76--155
Pete Oakley              76-79--155

Jim Holtgrieve           82-74--156    12-over
Hugh Baiocchi            79-77--156
Jim Ahern                78-78--156

Rocky Thompson           78-80--158    14-over
Dale Douglass            79-79--158

Terry Dill               84-77--161    17-over
John Harris              80-81--161

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

First-round leader Aoki sits 5 back

Updated: March 12, 2005, 10:23 PM ET

Associated Press

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SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Keith Fergus shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Mark McNulty after two rounds of the Champions Tour's SBC Classic.

Fergus, a former golf coach at Houston and three-time winner in 14 years on the PGA Tour, had six birdies and a bogey on the Valencia Country Club course for a 7-under 137.

McNulty shot a 66 to move to 138, two strokes ahead of Gary McCord (66) andD.A. Weibring (69). Mike Reid was in fifth place at 141 after a second-round 71, and 62-year-old Isao Aoki, the first-round leader, followed an opening 69 with a 73, dropping to 142.

"It was fun out there today," said the 51-year-old Fergus, who coached at Houston from 1988 to 1994. "I love this course. I like the rough and I like that they don't shoot a lot of low scores. It's a course where you have to be precise to score well."

Fergus birdied the first hole but made bogey at the fourth. He added a birdie at the fifth and picked up two more strokes with consecutive birdies at Nos. 9-10. After missing a six-foot birdie try at the 10th, he went on to make birdies at Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 16.

"I just wish I had finished with a birdie on that last hole," Fergus said. "But overall, I was very happy with the way I played."

Fergus originally played the PGA Tour from 1977-86 and then qualified through Q-School again in 1995 and played the circuit full-time through 1998. He was also a two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour in 1994.

"The time off was good for me," Fergus said. "But I always felt like I wanted to come back. I had to make sure I was 100 percent committed and willing to put in the time it takes. These guys can really play out here."

Fergus last held the lead going into the final round at the Nationwide Tour's Louisiana Open in '95. He finished second in that event.

"I was in contention this year in Hawaii, but Hale Irwin ran me down," said Fergus, who finished tied for 15th in the opener at Turtle Bay. "Now I'm in contention again and I'm excited about trying to win this tournament."

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press