An explosive situation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2010 (5862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some post-Canada Day fireworks are guaranteed today at the $300,000 Players Cup at Pine Ridge.

Of course the Canadian Tour players will be gunning for the $48,000 first prize and an invitation to the RBC Canadian Open next week in Toronto.

But the action should be intense, given that Golf Canada has extended five other Open invitations to the Canadian Tour.

And those will go to the five highest players on the money list once the dust settles today.

The possibilities are intriguing, with at least a dozen players high enough on the leaderboard to be in the chase for those coveted spots for a PGA Tour event.

Win today and you’re in Toronto. Come close and you might be just as in.

The Players Cup’s large purse offers six prizes of more than $10,000. It’s $28,800 for second and $18,000 for third, for example, creating all kinds of opportunities, even for those who don’t win.

When play was called because of darkness Saturday night — the ramifications of the weather delay due to thunderstorms from 11:54 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. — second-round leader Vince Covello of Philadelphia was still on top of the board, though he had dropped a shot through 10 holes and stood at nine-under-par.

That was one better than Mexico’s Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, who had gained two strokes to par in 12 holes, and two better than Richard Lee of B.C., who had also gained two on his first 13.

Two players ended the day at six-under, just three away from the lead — Lee Curry of Ottawa and Brady Stockton of Cave Creek, Ariz.

And seven players stood at five-under when darkness fell, including Rob Grube of Palo Alto, Calif., and 2006 champ Josh Habig of San Diego, who were able to finish their third rounds.

The money-list jockeying probably doesn’t include No. 1 Brock Mackenzie, who sits tied for 13th and is in as good a shape as No. 2 Adam Hadwin, who’s tied for 18th. They’ve already accumulated enough cash to be safe for the Open, and are likely to add more today.

Last week’s winner, Wil Wilcox, who’s tied with Hadwin at the Players Cup, is in third spot about $4,400 behind Hadwin and doesn’t appear to need anything spectacular today to go to Toronto.

Goldberg is in good shape at fourth here and the fifth eligible spot going into this week appears to be Grube’s at $25,636.

Considering the big cheques available for high finishes, the fun is on.

Stockton is next, about $1,600 back, followed by Rodriguez, another $1,600 behind that. Covello, 18th on the money list, is clearly in the game even if he doesn’t hold on to win.

Curry, 24th, Habig, 28th, Sahl, 32nd, Byron Smith, 35th, Lee, 36th, and Yohann Benson 39th, don’t make up the full list of players with a chance for the Open, but they’re in the best spots for a chance.

The calculating (and playing) will begin early this morning. Six groups — 18 players — are left on the course to complete their third rounds this morning at 7:15 a.m.

The fourth round will commence off both tees at 10:10 a.m.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca