Baird up by two over Els, Casey in California – Frys.com Open
SAN MARTIN, Calif. – Briny Baird shot a 7 under par 64 on Saturday to get to 13 under 200 overall and built a two-stroke lead over South Africa’s Ernie Els and England’s Paul Casey after three rounds at CordeValle in northern California.Baird had seven birdies, two bogeys and a holed out for eagle 2 at the 17th.
“I played a lot today like I did the other day,” Baird said. “I played very solid. From a distance it probably looked good and has felt good. I felt very surprisingly in control of my golf game. When I say that, I just haven't really been playing all that well the last -- for quite a stretch. I felt very good today.
I felt good with my game. You are going to get nervous. I don't think anybody pretends that they don't, at least the people that I talk to. And a major obstacle that I've been trying to overcome is not feeling that way. But it's feeling more comfortable with my golf game so you can avoid feeling as uptight as you're going to feel. It's only Saturday, but you still get yourself in positions where you feel a little bit out of your element. I haven't played well the last couple of years, so I'm definitely a little out of my element up near the lead of a good tournament.”
Baird has won more money on tour than any other player without a win and he would very much like to change that by closing the deal on Sunday.
In addition to Els and Casey, he’ll have to content with a quartet of players at minus-10 – Charlie Wi, Bryce Molder, Adam Hadwin and Bud Cauley. John Rollins is another shot back while Will MacKenzie, Josh Teater, Chris Stroud and Jim Renner share ninth at 8 under par.
Baird is not the only player that is feeling different. Els, who has won three majors, hasn’t been in with a chance to win going to the final round all year.
“I don't think your memory disappears after 20 years of being out here,” said Els. “So this is what I've been working towards, especially after the PGA. I changed a lot of things and I feel that the work I've put in is starting to come through. I'm starting to feel comfortable on the things I've been working on. I think the FedEx race was a good test for my game. I didn't have any top 10s or anything like that. I kind of scraped through and I had a lot of pressure on me and on my game. You're just trying to survive. So I feel that's helped me, and then obviously the work. I don't think you forget how to win, you know. I've won quite a few times. I can take my game and let it flow.”
Casey is another player who has won around the world. In fact, he is coming off a win in Korea last week after dealing with a foot injury since May. He finished with an incredible par save at the last and that should help give him a positive feeling going into Sunday.
“Not just the win but I felt that the game is coming back to where I want it to be,” he said when speaking about his level of confidence. “The ball striking was good and I found a way of winning that golf tournament (last week). I know it was, you know, the Korean golf Tour, wasn't the PGA Tour, but a win is a win.
“Still coming down the stretch, the same juices flow. And it was nice to be back in that environment again. I’d kind of forgotten how to do it a little bit so far this year. It came back very quickly, and I think that -- there's no doubt that the reason I'm up there this week is because of that.”
Tiger Woods has to be feeling a bit better as well. He shot 68 for the second straight day marking the first time since the Masters in April that he has put together consecutive rounds better than par.
For Woods, the positive is seeing his game improve with each round.
“Absolutely it's gotten better,” Woods said. “I felt so good over the ball today. I felt that I hit a couple of bad iron shots, ones that I had wedges in. I should have stuffed those, but I didn't. I didn't put myself in a position where I needed to be.”
Albeit not the position he wanted to be in, contending for another win, but there are a bunch of players feeling good about their work through 54 holes.
Now, it just a matter of which one will feel the best after the final round.
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