Golf : Verplank pushing for Nelson title
Scott Verplank is honoring the memory of Byron Nelson the best way he can: playing steady golf and trying to finally win Lord Byron’s tournament.
Verplank shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to pull within a stroke of leader Luke Donald going into the final round of the first EDS Byron Nelson Championship played without its namesake. Nelson, who in 1968 became the first golfer to have a PGA Tour event named after him, died Sept. 26 at age 94.
As a teenager growing up in Dallas, Verplank got to play several rounds with Nelson after being introduced to him when his mother worked as a tournament volunteer. Now playing in his 21st Nelson, the 42-year-old Verplank is in position to win it for the first time.
“If I happen to do that, it would probably be the highlight of my career,” said Verplank, who refers to the Nelson as his fifth major.
“Byron was so great to me for 25, 26 years that I knew him.”
Verplank will play in the final group today with Donald, who barely hung onto the lead after his round of 67, his 11th straight under-par round in the Nelson.
Phil Mickelson (66) and Vijay Singh (69), the only top-10 players in the world playing this week, were in a group at 5 under with Ken Duke (64), Ryuji Imada (67) and Fredrik Jacobson (71).
Ochoa rallies to tie lead
Lorena Ochoa shot a 9-under 64 to tie Julieta Granada and Silvia Cavalleri for the third-round lead in the Corona Morelia Championship in Morelia, Mexico, the Mexican star’s first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world.
A day after falling five strokes behind with a 74, the 25-year-old Ochoa had eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey before thousands of fans who cheered her every move on the hilly Tres Marias course – about 175 miles from her native Guadalajara.
The 64 matched the LPGA Tour record on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course where Ochoa won last year. Granada had a 67, and Cavalleri shot a 69.
Former Rathdrum resident Tracy Hanson shot a third-round total of 74 and has a three-round score of 222.