PGA Tour: The Curse of the 54-Hole Lead

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 18, 2011

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Holding the 54-hole lead at a big-time event has recently turned into some kind of curse.

At last week's Players Championship we saw yet another Sunday come and go with the 54-hole leader posting yet another massive number.

As Harry Caray might say, "Holy cow."

The last guy to actually lead a big tournament after 54 holes and close the door on Sunday was Louis Oosthuizen at the 2010 Open Championship.

Dustin Johnson had a three-stroke lead after 54 holes at the U.S. Open only to fire an 82 on Sunday and finish T-8. Johnson's final-round 82 was the highest score posted by a 54-hole U.S. Open leader since Fred McLeod shot an 83 in 1911.

Nick Watney entered the final round of last year’s PGA Championship leading by three strokes, posted a final-round 81 and finished T-18.

Rory McIlroy began the final round of the Masters with a four-stroke lead, lost his lead by the third hole, triple-bogeyed the 10th, wound up carding an 80 and tied for 15th.

And then we come to Graeme McDowell at last week’s Players Championship.

Although McDowell led by only one stroke heading into the final round, he was by no means immune to the 54-hole leader curse. McDowell posted a final-round 79 and tied for 33rd.

Contrary to popular belief, Sunday afternoon meltdowns are not a new phenomenon.

Arnold Palmer had a six-stroke lead with just nine holes to play at the 1966 U.S. Open and wound up losing to Billy Casper in an 18-hole playoff the following day.

Greg Norman had a five-stroke lead heading into the final round of the 1996 Masters only to post a 78 and lose by three strokes to Nick Faldo.

Retief Goosen had a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the 2006 U.S. Open only to card an 81 on Sunday and hand the tournament to Michael Campbell.

Ken Venturi shot an 80 in the final round of the 1956 Masters when, like McIlroy, he wa...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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