PHOENIX OPEN SATURDAY CROWD OF 121,000

Snedeker leads after a rowdy day at Scottsdale

Brandt Snedeker, 29, from Tennessee shot six birdies in a round of 66 for a one-shot lead after three rounds of the fluctuating US PGA Tour event that is the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.
Snedker is on 14-under-par 199 through 54 holes; Scott Piercy (65) and Rickie Fowler (69) are together on 13 under; Matt Every (68) is in fourth place at 12 under and Colombian Camilo Villegas, one-time leader in the tournament is next at 11 under par.
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Villegas birdied the last two holes to finish even for the day.
The 49-year-old Mark Calcavecchia, winner of the Phoenix Open three times, in 1989, 1992 and 2001 is one of nine players at the 10-under 203 mark. Calcavecchia has not won since 2007.
Then noisy, even rowdy crowd of around 121,000 was about 40,000 down on the 164,000 who attended the Saturday round last year. The tournament record of 170,000 spectators was achieved in 2008.
"It was crazy," Snedeker said. "You've got to take it with a grain of salt and realise golf needs that. We need people out here having fun, being excited about being at a golf tournament. If you can't take it for one hole, good God, get over yourself and have some fun."
Snedeker's was the 2007 US PGA Tour rookie of the year, but his victory at the Wyndham Championship that season remains his lone win.
He struggled early last year, missing the cut 12 of 26 times and was sidelined eight weeks by a rib injury.
"You just listen to your hype," Snedeker said. "You hear people talking about how good you are and how much you could be the next big thing, you should be winning each week. And the minute you think that you should be winning the golf tournament each week, you're completely out of bounds."
The turnaround, he said, came last July at the AT&T National, where he tied for fifth.
"Literally like a flipped switch," Snedeker said, "and I said, 'I'm sick and tired of this.' I don't care if I have to quit playing golf, I'm not going to keep playing the way I've been playing. And ever since then I've been playing good."
He tied for second on January 31 at Torrey Pines, one shot behind winner Ben Crane.
Snedeker's only bogey Saturday, on the par-4 14th, was the most critical hole of the round, he said.
He pulled his second shot into the left bunker. He failed to clear the bunker with his third shot and, with a bad lie, knocked his fourth shot 32 feet past the pin. Then he nailed the putt.
"That says a lot about where my head is right now," Snedeker said. "It completely changed the way I walked on the 15th tee, feeling excited, confident, everything still going good."
Snedeker has led after three rounds only once before, at the 2007 Buick Open.
Piercy, in search of his first victory on the tour, will be in the final group at Phoenix for the second year in a row. He was a shot off the lead going into the last round a year ago and finished tied for sixth.
Piercy said he learned watching eventual winner Kenny Perry play that final round.
"He made a ton of pars. He didn't make any bogeys, or very few bogeys, and then when he made a birdie, that birdie was so huge," Piercy said.
He said it showed him "rather than put the foot on the gas pedal the whole time, maybe drive with a little bit of caution."
Piercy had a two eagles, the second one a tap-in on the par-4, 390yd 10th hole, when his tee shot came to rest 10 inches from the pin.
The scene around the 16th was high spirited to say the least, with the mostly young crowd packed elbow-to-elbow, beer in hand.
People lined up to get into the bleachers as if it was some trendy Scottsdale night club.
SCOREBOARD TO COME