Moving Day At Muirfield
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

The up and down rollercoaster that was the third round of the 2007 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course came down to the final duo of the evening.

Rod Pampling, who started the day in second, hit a birdie with short putt on No. 18, while second-round leader Adam Scott bogeyed to put three strokes between the two entering the final round Sunday.

Pampling ended the day with a 68 to move to 15 under, 201, through three rounds. Scott and Sean O’Hair, one of three first-round co-leaders sit three back at 204.

The story of the third round as Will MacKenzie, who hit five birdies on the back nine to move to 11-under. He played bogey-free golf to move up the leader board. He sits tied for fourth (11-under) with Stewart Cink and Aaron Baddeley.

“I hit the ball great all day,” MacKenzie said. “I definitely made a couple birdies early and that got me going.”

Not even a two-and-a-half hour rain delay stopped MacKenzie. At the break, he was two-under at No. 7. He came back out to shoot for par on the next two holes before making his move.

Scott, who had a one-stroke lead after two rounds, said he wasn’t feeling it Saturday.

“I didn’t really get it going out there on the golf course,” he said. “I struggled with the pace of the greens a little bit. The few chances I had at birdie didn’t really make then, so I never got any momentum.”

The momentum for Pampling came with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 and then on No. 18. On No. 14, he hit a two-iron in the left rough, hit a lob wedge then hit a 30-foot putt. On No. 18, he hit a three-wood, nine-iron to two feet.

“We (Pampling and Scott) hit the shots exactly the same off the tee,” Pampling said. “I had a nice flat lie in the bunker and Adam had a pretty gnarly lie there. That’s just the brake. Thankfully it went my way and I hit a great shot out.”

Tiger Woods continued to lurk, shooting a 2-under 70, but did make a big enough leap to contend with the leaders. He said he is working on his putting, among other things.

“I’ve had good speed, I just haven’t made anything,” Woods said. “I’ve hit so many good putts, and they’re just not going in. Obviously, I’m not reading them right.”

Ostrander’s Ben Curtis had his best round of the tournament Saturday shooting a three-under, 69, and barley missed a chip shot from the bunker on No. 18 that would have put him at 6-under through 54 holes.

“I hit (the ball) really good,” Curtis, who hit within 15 feet of the cup on eight of the back nine, said. “I had a lot of chances coming in. … I just didn’t make any. It’s a little frustrating, but I’m happy.”

With threatening rain forecasted for most of Sunday, the PGA is going to speed up the final round. The pros will tee off from both the first and 10th tees in three-man groups to try to get the final round complete.

Pampling, O’Hair and Scott will tee off at the first tee at 10:01 a.m. meaning their round could be over as early as 2:30 p.m.