Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for golf and an even better day for a leisurely walk around TPC San Antonio with some PGA Tour pros. I wrapped up my day three of volunteering at the Valero Texas Open at around 4:15 PM, which was 5 hours and 15 minutes after teeing off. But more about that later.
For round three, I was assigned to the group of Trevor Immelman, Josh Teater and Will MacKenzie. All three players started the day at 3-under, which at the time was 5 shots off the lead.
For Trevor Immelman, his day couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. After a perfect tee shot on #1 and an even better second shot, Immelman had a short birdie putt which he drained to get to 4-under. Two holes later, on the par-3 third, Immelman hit another beautiful iron for an easy birdie. Things kind of went south for Immelman after that. Over the next five holes, he picked up three bogeys to drop him back to 1-over for the day. He picked up an unlikely birdie on #9 which was playing as the toughest hole on the course for day and made the turn at even par for the day.
On the back 9, Immelman picked up a double-bogey on #13 and a bogey on #17 after drive in the woods forced him to drop for an unplayable lie. Add in a birdie on #14 and Immelman ended the day at 2-over par and 1-under for the tournament.
Will MacKenzie on the other hand went the other way. With four top-10’s this year on the PGA Tour, MacKenzie is set up to have another top-10 finish at the Valero Texas Open if he can continue his good play today. He’ll start the day at tied for 8th place at 5-under, 7 shots off the lead. MacKenzie parred his way through the first four holes on Saturday before picking up his first birdie at the 5th. On #8, another one of the hardest holes on the golf course in round 3, MacKenzie made a double bogey seven, to make the turn at 1-over par for the day.
But on the back 9, MacKenzie turned that around. He picked up four birdies. His first birdie came on #10 and then he didn’t pick up his next one until #15, with two more right after that on #16 & #17. If MacKenzie can put up another couple under round today or better, he’ll surely post another top-10 on the year and cash another good check.
Josh Teater had a rough day in round 3 but might have had an excuse. His Kentucky Wildcats moved on to the Elite 8 on Friday night. Either way, Teater’s day got off to a birdie-bogey start on the first two holes, but then he put two in the water on the par-3 third. He carded a double bogey and never really recovered. He picked up two more bogeys on the front 9 to make the turn at 5-over for the day. On the back 9, Teater picked up another bogey on #12 but then canceled it out with a birdie at #18 to finish the day with a 5-over 77, dropping him back to a T-48 place.
Phil Mickelson decided his “oblique” hurt and withdrew on the second hole on Saturday, which is unfortunate for San Antonio and the Valero Texas Open. I don’t know how much that is going to play into fans coming out today, but the forecast is shaping up to be another perfect day for golf.
[…] was on the 12th hole yesterday with my group of Trevor Immelman, Will MacKenzie and Josh Teater when I heard over the radio Phil Mickelson had […]