Baddeley Just Ahead of Two Players at the Northern Trust Open

Aaron Baddeley had just one top-10 last season and hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2007, but now he’s got a one shot lead heading to the final round of the Northern Trust Open in hopes that his lengthy drought will finally come to an end.

Baddeley fired a third round 67 giving him a one shot edge over Fred Couples and Kevin Na after making just a single bogey on Saturday.

He now goes out at (9-4) slightly ahead of the pair one shot back who will tee off round four at (9-2).  One cause for concern could be the Australian’s inability to make birdies on the back nine this week.  Thru three rounds, Baddeley has made just four birdies coming in and that doesn’t bode well should he have to get a shot or two back down the stretch.

Couples is defying age as the 51-year old tries to become only the seventh player to win on the PGA Tour after their 50th birthday.  A tall order indeed and the former Masters champion did slow down on Saturday.

Couples managed just a 1-under 70 in round three as he made just two birdies and struggled to get a feel for the greens.  An oddity as one would expect Couples to run out of gas, thus, taking a toll on his tee to green game.

With the irons still firing on target, he’s got a chance to make history on Sunday.

Kevin Na has been a pro for ten years even though he’s just 27-years old.

However, Na hasn’t won on the PGA Tour even though he’s played almost 200 tournaments during his career.  This could be his time and he hasn’t had the difficulties encountered by most of the field on the back nine making six birdies after the turn in his last two rounds.

Third on the board is Vijay Singh at (5-1) adding to some veteran flavour at Riviera Country Club.  Singh has made a living with his putter averaging just 26 putts for the week.

This shouldn’t change on Sunday so it should be expected that Singh won’t shoot himself out of this one early on, if at all.

One player that takes great value to the final round is Tour veteran Harrison Frazar.  Sure he hasn’t been anything special for a few years now having made just four top-10’s since 2007.

However, he’s going out at (80-1) and he shot his best round of the week on Saturday posting a 65.

There is no similarity between golf and putting; they are two different games, one played in the air, and the other on the ground    - Ben Hogan