2007 PGA Tour (Dan's first PGA title)

[jaydeep]

Another superb round of 7 under by Daniel ... Good to see he is in the mix for top position ... Go Daniel.

[Prem]

Daniel should cap it up with a win here.
He has been knocking on the doors for sometime now and believe that he can pull off a win here..
Go Danny Go.....

[PKBasu]

Fantastic stuff continues from Daniel Chopra!! He and Bob Estes are now joint co-leaders, having each played 11 holes in the third round. They finished on 16-under through 47 holes, two strokes clear of the rest of the field. They will each need to play 25 holes on Sunday, starting at 8am.

Good luck to Daniel! Let's see the first PGA tour title for an Indian (although everybody else in the PGA insists on calling him a Swede... ). 

[BSharma]

Daniel Chopra is leading by 4 shots with 9 holes left to play.  Come on Dan and win your first PGA Tour title.

[BSharma]

10th hole:

Dan hit the tee shot into a  water-softened area in fairway and instead of taking relief, he hit a good shot into the wind to 15 feet from the hole on to the green.  His birdie putt barely missed the hole and went about 3 feet further.  Then his par putt grazed the left side of the hole and he ended up with a bogie.  His first three-putt of the week.

He leads by 3 strokes now. 
Addendum:  (from PGA Tour)

Play by Play for the Par 4, 417 yards 10th Hole X

Shot 1 265 yds to right fairway, 133 yds to hole
Shot 2 130 yds to green, 15 ft to hole
Shot 3 putt 18 ft 7 in., 3 ft 3 in. to hole
Shot 4 putt 4 ft 9 in., 14 in. to hole
Shot 5 in the hole

[BSharma]

11th hole - Play by Play for the Par 5, 562 yards:

Shot 1 282 yds to right fairway, 295 yds to hole
Shot 2 164 yds to left fairway, 131 yds to hole
Shot 3 123 yds to green, 23 ft to hole
Shot 4 putt 20 ft 7 in., 2 ft 1 in. to hole
Shot 5 in the hole

His birdie putt was somewhat tentative and he left it about 2 feet short of the hole.  Probably a smart play since a harder hit ball could have rolled several feet past the hole.  Protect the lead, protect the lead - the new mantra for Dan.  Go Daniel, you can do it.

Lead is 3 strokes.

[BSharma]

Par 3, 214 yards 12th Hole:

- Dan plays a safe shot off the tee and gets his ball on the green, 16 yards from the hole.

- Meanwhile Shigeki Maruyama drops a stroke with a bogie and drops to T4.

- Dan tries to get a birdie with a long 48 ft putt and although he had a good rhythm to his stroke, he left it 7 feet short of the hole.

- There is less than an hour of sunlight left and the shadows are lengthening on the greens.  The golfers have sped up their play to finish their round before darkness makes it harder to play.

- Dan hits a solid putt stroke for par and gets it safely into the hole.

- Dan's playing partner, Briny Baird, makes a bogey and drops to T6.

- Fredrik Jacobson makes a birdie on the 13th hole and moves into sole second place at minus 17.

- Dan's (-19) lead is down to 2 strokes.

[BSharma]

Hole 13 - Par 4 - 399 Yards:
Hole Difficulty Rank: 9;  Longest Drive: 327;  Average Drive: 265.8;  Going for green: 0.00%

- Dan's tee shot goes right and does not move back into the fairway and lands in some amount of trouble in right rough, but it could have been in a worse place.  Tee shot - 269 yards.

-  Golf Channel decides to end their TV coverage to show the Champions' Tour event. 

- Dan's 2nd shot goes 154 yards and lands in left rough, 15 yards from hole.

- Dan's 3rd shot goes 23 yards but is 23 feet away from hole.

- Dan two-putts for a bogie and drops to minus 18. 

- Meanwhile Fredrik Jacobson makes a par on the 14th hole and is at minus 17.

- Dan's lead is now 1 stroke. 

[BSharma]

Hole 14 - Par 4 - 432 Yards: Hole Difficulty Rank: 3; Longest Drive: 320; Average Drive: 251.0

- Come on Dan.  Nothing less than a par stroke on this difficult hole.

- Fredrik Jacobson is a Swede and has never won on the PGA Tour.  Who will blink first - Dan or Fredrik?

- Dan's tee shot travels 265 yds to left rough and is 164 yds away from hole. 
- Dan makes a par to stay at minus 18.

- Meanwhile Fredrik Jacobson's 2nd shot on par four 15th lands 3 feet from hole and he can tie it up with Dan with a birdie putt. 
- Fredrik makes a birdie and moves into a tie for first place with Dan. The 15th hole is the most difficult hole today and what a birdie putt by Fredrik.

[BSharma]

Hole 15 - Par 4 - 460 Yards:  Hole Difficulty Rank: 1;  Longest Drive: 324;
Average Drive: 278.2

- Dan's tee shot goes 283 yds and lands in right rough and his 2nd shot ends on a cart path, 27 yards to hole leaving a birdie try quite impossible. 
- Dan 3rd shot travels 30 yds to green and leaves himself a 8 ft par putt.
- Dan makes his par putt on the most difficult hole today. 

- Fredrik Jacobson is playing the par five 16th hole and after sending his tee shot into right rough, he recovered to get his 3rd shot 16 feet from the hole - a good chance to make birdie and take the lead.
- Fredrik sends his birdie putt 20 feet - 3 ft 6 inches from hole - no chance for him to take the outright lead. 
- Fredrik makes par and both players remain tied for first place at minus 18.

- Dicky Pride is in the clubhouse currently in third place at minus 16.

[BSharma]

Hole 16 - Par 5 - 502 Yards: Hole Difficulty Rank: 18;  Longest Drive: 299;
Average Drive: 259.9;  Going for green: 86.58%

- Come on Dan and make an eagle or a birdie on the easiest hole today.  I am sure that when a player is in contention for the title, the easiest hole and not any more easy, as Fredrik found out a few moments back.

- Shegeki makes an eagle on the par five 16th hole and ties up Dan and Fredrik for first place.

[BSharma]

Round 4 of the Ginn sur Mer Classic has been suspended due to darkness and play will resume Monday at 8:00 am Local Time.

Sleep well Dan and win the tournament tomorrow.  Good luck.

[BSharma]

Three golfers are tied for the lead with a few holes left to play and the winner will be crowned on Monday morning.  Shigeki Maruyama has won three PGA Tour titles althought his most recent victory was in 2003.  Daniel Chopra and Fredrik Jacobson have no PGA Tour titles to their names yet but it could change tomorrow.  IMHO the winner will be the one who can keep his nerves in check the best on Monday. 

Daniel will play the par five 16th hole - the easiest hole in the fourth round - and I hope that he can come out firing tomorrow and make a birdie or an eagle.  The 17th hole is par three and a difficult hole and he has made pars in the previous three rounds.  The closing 18th hole is par four and Dan has made a birdie, a par and a bogie so far.

[PKBasu]

Great to see Daniel still there as co-leader -- although, thanks to Bhushan's excellent coverage, we also know that he had a huge lead half-way through the round. The overnight rest should help clear his mind, and let's hope he begins with a bang on the 16th hole. Go Daniel!!

[ajay]

Bhushan, thanks for your updates. I had to miss everything today after ninth hole due to some other work. But your updates here filled in what I missed. Daniel was leading by 4 strokes when I had to leave. He had a superb start with three birdies in a row. So I was quite confident that by evening he'll have the title. Finally when I got a chance to check the score, I was shocked to see Daniel tied with Maruyama and Fredrik Jacobson. I think this break should definetly help Daniel as he can calm his nerves and comeback in a confident frame of mind. He has the advantage that he is yet to play the 16th hole which can give him the lead. His driving had been superb in this tournament, but looks like he started losing it in the back nine today and instead of fairways he started finding roughs. Go Daniel!!!