Kraft Nabisco Championship - Rancho Mirage, CA

                          CURRENT LEADERBOARD             SUNDAY TEE TIMES

           SATURDAY INTERVIEWS:    OCHOA     SORENSTAM     PETTERSEN     HAN

- The Closer?:  Were it not for Gregory Bourdy, this would be a heck of a golf tournament.  Bourdy, winner of the 2007 Mallorca Classic, is attempting to become the second Frenchman in as many weeks to win on the European Tour at the Estoril Portuguese Open – and with rounds of 63-65-68, he could be well on his way.  He owns a four-shot lead over Alastair Forsyth (winner  two weeks ago of the Madeira Island Open) and a five-shot cushion over South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel and England’s Miles Tunnicliff.  David Howell, world #72 Soren Kjeldsen and 18-year-old Rory McIlroy head up a group of five players sitting on 202, six shots back.  Can Bourdy close the deal?  At Mallorca, the 25-year-old began Sunday tied for the lead and coolly closed with a 67 to win by one, but starting the final round four shots ahead is another psychological story altogether.  Now the fun begins…

- Protecting Sponsors From…Themselves?:  And the beat goes on...  Well on his way to competitive oblivion (both Friday, and in general), John Daly decided that this week’s cause was a back injury and withdrew after 25 holes of the Shell Houston Open.  The problem here, once again, is that Daly was playing on a sponsor exemption – and once again, he has served as the PGA Tour’s unofficial ambassador for sponsor relations by heading home early, leaving tournament organizers high and dry.  For those keeping score at home, that’s Daly’s second withdrawal  in nine 2008 starts (after an unofficial Tour record six WDs in ’07), plus he was, to quote the Associated Press, “kicked out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational after missing his pro-am tee time.”  Once again, we are left to wonder why sponsors continue to delude themselves that Daly is a worthwhile addition to their event - and those decisions are entirely theirs for the PGA Tour is limited in its ability to dictate which individual pros a sponsor may or may not invite.  What the Tour can do, however, is demand, at the commissioner’s discretion, substantial medical proof of a withdrawing player’s injuries – and perhaps, in the cases of those whose injuries are suspect (read Daly), help them to “recover” by deeming them unfit to play for a set period of time.  Of course, in Daly’s case, the issue is far less physical than psychological.  And people thought that Tom Weiskopf had problems...

- To Play Or Not To Play, Part II:  I wonder if Adam Scott’s having second thoughts about having entered the Shell Houston Open instead of resting/practicing for the Masters.  Scott entered the week a bit under the weather, but battling a fever and swollen glands, managed an amazing Thursday 63 to grab a share of the lead at the Houston event.  His maladies caught up with him during Friday’s sloppy 76, however, and Scott subsequently withdrew, hoping that a weekend of rest might better prepare him for Augusta.  This, we can be certain, was a good decision.  The decision to go to Houston in the first place, however, well, that might be another story.