Wi leads as Toms struggles

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  • May 22, 2011

Charlie Wi grabbed the lead at the Crowne Plaza Invitational on Saturday thanks to a bad day at the office for David Toms.

Charlie Wi grabbed the lead at the Crowne Plaza Invitational on Saturday thanks to a bad day at the office for overnight leader David Toms.

Toms’ seven shot lead evaporated in the third round, as he could not match his earlier double-62 heroics.

Though he matched Pat Perez’s scoring record for the first 36 holes of a tournament dating from 2009 with his performance in the first two rounds, his third round turned out very differently.

The American eventually had to settle for a four-over-par 74, and now trails leader Wi, who shot a four-under-par 66, by one shot heading into the final round.

Amazingly, he could still win the tournament should he find his feet on Sunday.

Toms had started well, with a birdie at the first, but he followed it up with bogeys at two and three immediately. From then on, it was a struggle.

“I felt after the first six holes, I was just hanging on, trying not to make a mistake,” he said.

“I just didn’t feel like I was in control. That’s a bad feeling when you go from being where I felt like I was in total control of what I was doing to all of a sudden — not that it’s slipping away, but I just didn’t feel as good.

“Maybe I’ll go out there with a little pressure off of me and see if we can do better on Sunday.”

In a strange way, Toms feels a little relieved that he no longer holds the lead.

“I’ve been playing with the lead for about two weeks now. It’s not always the easiest thing to do,” he said.

Wi enjoyed a solid nearly bogey-free round, picking up two shots on each nine, as he chases his first PGA Tour title.

Trailing by seven shots at the start of the day, he can hardly believe he emerged as the leader.

“It’s such a crazy game,” said Wi.

“I don’t know what to say. … I don’t want to say too much because golf is such a fickle game. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

John Senden is third at nine under, four strokes off Wi’s lead of 13 under.

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