When
you think of Golf in Florida you think about sunshine and fantastic
golfing conditions, but you should also remember the wind and it is
the element that can be attributed to the success of foreign born
players in the last ten years of The Honda Classic, and two of the
best foreign born players in the world are ready to battle it out for
the title on Sunday at PGA National. Of course it would be folly to
completely discount the pair that are tied for the lead, but with the
pressure of some of the world's best chasing and the opportunity to
win a first PGA Tour title I just cannot see Luke Guthrie or Michael
Thompson claiming the Honda title on Sunday evening. I tipped Lee
Westwood at the start of the week and I see no reason to change my
opinion ahead of the final round. Even a mid-round wobble didn't
de-rail the former world number one in his bid for a first win of
2013 and first ever win in Florida, a back-nine 33 took the
Englishman to 6-under and just two strokes off the lead, tied with
Geoff Ogilvy, who he played with on Saturday.
It
was very impressive the way the leading pair coped with the
conditions and the occasional set-back on the most demanding day so
far and because of this they may well keep it together on Sunday.
Rickie Fowler put himself in position to attack the lead on Sunday
with a birdie-eagle finish and Keegan Bradley posted a solid 70 on a
day that the lowest score was 67, Fowler is at 5-under and Bradley is
at 4-under, 3 and 4 shots off the pace respectively but both have the
talent to contend on Sunday.
Tiger
Woods shot a third straight round of 70 to sit 8 shots off the lead,
on the face of it he seems out of contention and the way he has
played bar Torrey Pines I cannot see him getting anywhere near the
leaders, but it should be remembered he did shoot 62 last year on
Sunday to finish second and who is to say if he gets off to a hot
start on Sunday morning that he couldn't post a score at least 2
hours ahead of the leaders starting and then wait for the nerves and
wind to affect the leaders. I won't say it can't happen.
Only
8 players broke par on Saturday as the tournament resembled a US Open
rather than a Honda Classic but I would venture to say tomorrow
someone at level par will post a 65 and sit and wait, whether that is
Tiger Woods I really don't know but I am certain someone will produce
something unexpected on Sunday. Having said that I am sticking with
my tip and I believe Lee Westwood will triumph and claim a 39th
worldwide win and 5 weeks out he is my favourite for The Masters.
Live@
on PGATOUR.com begins at 9amET with coverage of play at the third and
ninth holes, Golf Channel comes on at 1pmET and NBC takes the reins
at 3pmET. In the UK Sky Sports begins coverage at 6pmGMT.
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