A Log Jam at The Top of the AT&T National

Anthony Kim answered the bell on Saturday afternoon. After an even par round on Friday, I wondered yesterday if Kim would be able to hang at the top. Would he be able to put a few faulter holes behind him and play like he did on Friday, when he set a course record at a future U.S Open site? At first, It didn’t look like it.

Kim boggeyed his first hole of day. The fall was on. But to his credit, Kim did not let a poor start bother him. He boggeyed only one other hole on Saturday (the par 5, ninth) and now sits atop the leaderboard. Kim made big putt after big putt to save par and make the occational birdie. He ended the day tied for first at ten under par. The round was more about saving par and staying afloat then moving up on the board. And that was all right. Kim didn’t have to win the tournement on Saturday, or make much of a move up the leader list. His round on Thursday took care of that. I have more confidence in Kim’s ability to stay on top and have a real chance to win the tournement after the third round.

Joining Kim on top is the host of this weeks event, Tiger Woods’. Woods’ round was a lot more frustrating then Kim’s. After an eagle at the ninth, Tiger looked to have the tourney well in hand. At one point, he had a three shot lead and was pulling anyway. As anyone in golf will tell you, their are few things more dangerous than Tiger Woods with a multiple shot lead. Then, Tiger did a very un-Tiger thing. He let multiple players back into the tournement. Much to the chigrin of Woods, he was became a good host after double boggeying the eleventh. He recovered nicely after the hiccup, birdieing the sixteenth and making par on the rest. However, it still was odd. Tiger botched a pottential chance to end the tornement on Saturday. You don’t see that very often.

The feel good story of the tournement is obviously that of Michael Allen. The 50 year old Allen has played in 336 events in his PGA career and won none of them. He’s the kind of guy who hangs on until he’s fifty and then goes to the senior tour, hoping to rake in what never came on the regular tour. Looked like a good plan, too. Allen won the Senior PGA championship. A great story. Never wins a PGA event and then captures a Senior tour Major. But don’t speak too soon on Allens’ PGA record quite yet. After a fantastic 65 on Saturday, Allen sits one shot off the lead at -9. However, I wouldn’t expect this to continue. Generally, you go 0-336 for a reason. Look for Allen to fade early on Sunday and end up fifth or sixth. Still a solid finish for this unlikly factor.

I would look for Sunday to be a two and a half man race. I like Anthony Kim to play well and stay in it until the end with Tiger….Maybe a playoff?? (I hope). Don’t sleep of Jim Furyk either. Furyk is two back at -8. He shot a 69 on Saturday, his worst round of the tornement. I like Furyk to be one shot off the lead at one point, but fade in the back nine. It will be hard to jump over four players and win. Jumping over Allen and Cameron Beckman is more then do-able. I don’t know about Kim and Tiger.

Related posts:

1. Anthony Kim Sets Course Record and Leads AT&T National
2. The Host is a Greedy One
3. That Tiger Sure is Greedy
4. Yang’s All Good; Upset At PGA
5. Tiger Woods Answers Critics (for now)