Dean Wilson is the third round leader at the Canadian OpenNathan Denette
Dean Wilson's options in golf are currently limited, but he made the most of his opportunities Saturday by taking the lead after the third round of the $5.1-million (U.S.) Canadian Open tournament.
The 40-year-old native of Hawaii came to the Open as a replacement for a sponsor exemption on Monday, and on Saturday, he finished atop the field at 195, four strokes ahead of anybody else, wet, fatigued and smilingly saying of the damp playing conditions: "Just another day in Hawaii, right?"
His closest competitors, Carl Pettersson, Bob Estes and Tim Clark all sit at 199.
Wilson played so poorly last season that he lost his PGA player status, and has to hope for exemptions to get into events. A win on Sunday would not only bring a winner's purse of $918,000, but exempt status through 2012, along with invitations to next month's PGA Championship and next year's Masters.
While Wilson and Clark had to slog through rains in the afternoon that pelted the course and soaked them all to the bone, Carl Pettersson played in the morning when it was dry and vaulted into contention by shooting 60, a tournament record that stunned even him.
Both find themselves at the top of the leaderboard against all odds. On Friday night, the U.S.-based Swede, Pettersson was worried that he might not make the cut for the Canadian Open. The 32-year-old player, born in Gothenburg, was sitting firmly in last place at 139, one stroke under par, on the verge of elimination after the second round.
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On Saturday morning, after he finished his third round, Pettersson thundered into first place (at least for a while), scorching the unpredictable St. George's course in a 10-under 60, only a wayward final putt away from becoming the fifth man in PGA history to shoot 59.
On Friday night, he watched the computer results with American player Jay Williamson, also in the same boat, and had a few Canadian beers while he waited for news of the cut. "That settled me down, I think," he said. "Maybe that's what did it."
With his old school chum Tim Clark watching , Pettersson faced a very steep uphill putt on the 18th hole, and he knew he'd hit a good shot. It hovered on the left side of the hole, and then it weaved all around. Didn't drop in. He was a breath away from shooting that elusive 59.
"Obviously, I'm thrilled to shoot 60, but to shoot 59, I don't know how many chances you're going to get in your lifetime," Pettersson said. "I would have loved to have seen that putt go in."
Overall, Pettersson shot two eagles, seven birdies, and he started off slowly with a bogey on the second hole. He'd missed the green with his shot. And at the fourth hole, he had a 25-footer for birdie and it rolled all around the cup and didn't go in. He still birdied that hole. If only he had done this, or that...
"Every round has shots like that," he said. "You can shoot 55, and you're going to have one or two shots that didn't go in."
He admitted he was stunned that he shot 60 and surprised that the scores this week have been as low as they have. On Thursday, Brent Delahoussaye shot 62 and broke George Knudson's course record of 64. And on Saturday, Pettersson not only broke the course record but lowered the tournament record by two shots. The course is so difficult, that Pettersson and his caddy thought the Open could be won with a 10-under score. Pettersson is now sitting at an 11-under 199. Wilson is at 15 under.
On his way to the final hole, Pettersson joked with his caddy Grant Berry, saying: "Where did this come from?"
Wilson may have been wondering the same thing, as he shot his third consecutive 65 of the week. He missed the cut at his last three events. He wanted to hit a few balls after he finished, but course administrators blew the horn, signalling people to get off the course because of inclement weather.
The rain, he said, was intense at times. "The weather is killing me," he said. And he admitted that he was as nervous as could be.
"But you know [the rain]is going to be there," he said. "You can't complain about it and you've just got to be a little tougher than the rain."
From last year to this, Wilson underwent an attitude adjustment that seems to be serving him well this week. He doubted himself. Last year, things didn't work out as he had planned. He didn't play well. He fought a few injuries. His back hurt him when he played. He tried to rest, but he loves to practice. The problems started to dig into his attitude, he said, and he started telling himself, after playing tournament after tournament, that there was always next week.
"But I don't have next week," he said. "So I've got to take advantage of the rounds I have.
"I'm a little more appreciative of getting in tournaments and playing and being out here and fighting and being in the battle. That time away makes you think about what you don't have."
He approached this week by thinking that anything could happen. After all, Matt Bettencourt won a tournament last week and he hadn't been playing his best. And Bob Heintz wasn't playing too well either, but he was up there, swinging.
"So I tried to talk myself into it," Wilson said. "And say: 'Hey, I've got it.'''
Saturday he did, despite the nerves. "If I wasn't nervous, it wouldn't be exciting," he said. "I would just be at home sitting on a car, going around with my friends, playing for two bucks. It wouldn't be as fun as this."
Clark led the way into the third round, but was exasperated at having troubles making putts. He lost a couple of drives when the rain poured, he said. "Almost scared to release the club, and missed a few fairways right and made my first bogey there on seven because of a missed fairway," he said.
He admired Wilson for playing well through the rain. "Even through all the tough rain, he was able to hit good shots," Clark said.
Wilson landed seven birdies and two bogeys, but when the rain hit, Clark sunk.
He had been roaring along in the lead with two birdies until he hit the seventh hole, when he posted a bogey.
He couldn't hide his frustration at the 18th hole, when he bogeyed it and shot only 69.
In Pictures: Round 3
Video: Adam Hadwin, Stephen Ames, Jon Mills, Carl Pettersson, Dean Wilson, Tim Clark