Low scores at mile-high Cherry Hills

    Writing from Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
    Saturday, September 6, 2014

    The recipe for low scores in a golf tournament includes the following ingredients:
    1. Skilled players.
    2. Soft greens that accept shots.
    3. Fairways that are slow, keeping balls from skittering into the rough.
    4. Light winds.
    All of the above were present on Saturday at Cherry Hills Country Club. The low scores were posted on cue.
    A course-record 8-under-par 62 by Morgan Hoffman, bringing him into contention. A 63 by Billy Horschel, vaulting him into the lead. A 64 by Martin Kaymer, putting him squarely in the chase. A slew of 67s, including one authored by Ryan Palmer punctuated by a birdie at the last to place him three in arrears of Horschel.
    All that happened in the third round of the mile-high BMW Championship. As did this: Rory McIlroy four-putting his way off the leader board. Winfield’s own Kevin Streelman making a quintuple-bogey 8 on the par-3 12th. William McGirt, seemingly allergic to low scores on the weekend, making back-to-back double bogeys. Henrik Stenson making birdies on his first three holes and shooting 2-over 72.
    Oh, and Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley withdrew before a ball was struck in anger.
    All but the last roundly entertained the gallery of about 27,000 who climbed the hills and cruised the valleys of Cherry Hills. As third rounds of a Western Open go, it had everything, and the collection of players leading the parade hint at a rousing finish to the 111th edition on the morrow.
    Horschel, who had the Deutsche Bank Classic in his grasp on Monday until the fatted 6-iron seen round Boston, is at 13-under-par 197 after his splendid bogey-free 63, which featured birdies on four of the last five holes, the last a right-to-left excursion of 32 feet before disappearing. He’s won once in his career, and, despite considerable questioning, has managed to put the gaffe on last week’s 72nd hole behind him.
    “Last week was more than a bad 6-iron at the end,” Horschel said. “It happens. I’ve got thick skin. Today was a great round. It’s a really challenging golf course. You can easily make bogey if you get out of position. To play bogey-free is one of the best three to five rounds I’ve had all year.”
    His margin over Palmer is three strokes, and would have been four except Palmer also made a 3 at the last, a 30-footer in his case. (This was the exception, not the norm; there were only eight birdies on the 18th in the 66-player field, but the scoring average was 69.424, under the stern par of 70 for the first time.)
    Palmer flew under the radar playing in the final threesome with gallery favorites McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, and lived to tell about it: “I had my few ‘Rory’s and ‘Palmer’s, had my 10 or 15 people following me. I’m taking the next step in my career, I think, and tomorrow can give myself a chance down the end.”
    Kaymer and Bubba Watson are tied for third at 8-under 202, U.S. Open champion Kaymer via the aforementioned 64, Masters champion Watson via a bogey-free 66. And Rickie Fowler, who had the best overall record in the majors this year without winning, is six back at 7-under 203 after a 66. Right behind him: Sergio Garcia at 6-under 204 following a 2-over 72, the only one of the leaders to go backwards on a day meant for going into overdrive.
    All of them are chasing Horschel, who eschews gazing at scoreboards while playing.
    “I’m in the best position I can be in going into Sunday,” Horschel said. “Think I’ve learned enough in the last year or year and a half to deal with what’s going to come from tomorrow. I’m going to do my thing and not let anything effect me, and have fun. Golf’s fun.”
    It was even more fun for Hoffman, whose 62 broke the course record of 64 established by Doug Tewell in the first round of the 1985 PGA by two strokes. (Palmer and Garcia tied it Friday, and Kaymer equaled it Saturday after Hoffman broke it.)
    “I don’t have anything to lose, so I was just trying to have some fun,” Hoffmann said.
    Hoffman started on the back nine, birdied his first three holes, ran three more birds together at 16-17-18 to turn in 6-under 30, then birdied the first and third holes. He was 8-under after 12 holes and needed to birdie three of the last six to shoot 59. He played them in even par, with four pars, a birdie and a bogey.
    “I don’t think you should be out here if you’re scared to go low,” Hoffmann said. “That 59 number was a big goal for me. Hopefully, I can pull it off tomorrow.”
    Hoffman had scored a 10-under 62 in college, but this was his best on the PGA Tour. He was fully aware that setting the record at Cherry Hills was a cut above. He soaked in the history from the Palmer Tee to the rest of it during the 2009 Palmer Cup, a college competition based on the Ryder Cup.
    “It’s as good as I remember,” Hoffman said of the club. “The facilities are great and everybody treats us awesome.”
    Hoffman starts the final round tied for 10th, and might have to duplicate his feat. He almost surely has to finish first or second to advance to the next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. Not bad for someone all but off the charts – 124th – after the Wyndham, but has used top-25 finishes the last two weeks to keep going in the playoffs.
    “This whole FedEx Cup has been a bonus, really,” Hoffman said. “Not winning at all, but sneaking in was kind of a high. (I’m) just trying to have some fun out here and keep riding the train.”
    – Tim Cronin