“Wait ’til to you see where this one went,” caddie Brett Waldman said.
On another clear day along the Pacific coast, it was hard not to notice.
In a familiar performance – even if the name might not be all that familiar now – Stanley overpowered the South Course on Saturday on his way to a 4-under 68 that gave him a five-shot lead going into the final round at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.
“For some reason, I’ve always been long,” said Stanley, who has a slight but athletic build and generates enormous speed. “But if you take a golf course like this, where you’re hitting 7-irons into par 5s and short irons into long par 4s, it definitely helps.”
It never hurt Tiger Woods, a seven-time winner as a pro at Torrey Pines.
Stanley chose to lay up on the par-5 18th with the large pond in front, and spun a wedge near the hole to about 51/2 feet. About his only regret in the third round was missing that putt. One last birdie would have broken the 54-hole tournament record that Woods set in 1998, before Rees Jones beefed up the South Course to 7,698 yards for the 2008 U.S. Open.
Stanley grew up when Woods ruled the sport. He used to have a poster of Woods over his bed.
“I think he’s definitely influenced me, and a lot of other people, too,” Stanley said.
He gladly settled for a spot alongside Woods in the record book at 18-under 198, and a five-shot lead over John Huh and John Rollins as he goes after his first PGA Tour title.
Stanley can’t recall ever having a lead this large, which can be troublesome if looked upon as only an opportunity to fail.
“I think the biggest thing is you can’t necessarily go out there and try to protect it,” Stanley said. “You’ve got to really just keep doing what got you to this point. I’m not going to be any more conservative tomorrow. I’ll stick to my game plan off the tee, and hopefully just continue to give myself a lot of chances.”
He hit driver on all but three holes, and four of them traveled at least 320 yards, a big number considering Torrey Pines is just a cliff over sea level.
Big numbers are nothing new for Stanley, however.
He recalls coming down to the Titleist Performance Institute his senior year at Bellarmine Prep. His ball speed was measured at 184 mph.
“Now, I can’t get it above 176,” he said.
It wasn’t just the big drives. Stanley showed exquisite control of his irons, especially his distance, and he has been working overtime the past few years on dialing in his wedges from inside 120 yards.
Even so, he refused to look ahead to today and what a win might mean – a trip to the Masters, perhaps a spot in the World Golf Championships, a two-year exemption.
WOODS TIED FOR 1ST
Tiger Woods put himself in position to win his second tournament in a row, and this one would leave little doubt about which direction his game is going.
He finally won two months ago against an 18-man field in California.
On Saturday, against the strongest field golf has seen in at least three months, Woods shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead with Robert Rock going into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
Woods finished at 11-under 205. Rock, at No. 117 in the world, birdied his final two holes for a 66 to join Woods in the last group along with Peter Hanson, who had a 64 and was two shots behind.
Also two back at 9-under 207 were Rory McIlroy, who played with Woods for the third straight day and had a 68, Francesco Molinari (66) and Paul Lawrie (68).
