San Diego County Open Golf : Hinkle Positions Himself in Lead

Ask the golfers opposing Lon Hinkle this weekend at the Cottonwood Golf Club about his game, and they will tell you something like this:

“Oh, Lon. Yeah, he’s a big hitter, Lon is. He’s going to be so tough to beat because this course favors a big hitter like Lon.”

Then ask Hinkle about his golf game. Ask him how it has come to pass that he leads this weekend’s San Diego County Open by three strokes with a sparkling 20-under-par 198 heading into today’s final round. He’ll tell you:

“Well, it’s not because I’m going out there and just blasting the ball a long ways.”

So, what gives?

Well, although Hinkle concedes that he normally hits the ball longer than your average pro, that is not necessarily the approach he has taken this weekend. The others have him figured all wrong, he says.

“Hey, this is a position golf course,” Hinkle said. “I’ve played here enough to know that. You’ve got to be in a good position at all times if you want to go for the flags.”

He was in good position most of the time Saturday. He birdied the first two holes and finished the front nine at four-under. He was also four-under on the back nine and missed a chance to go five-under when his tee shot on the par-3 18th became tangled in the flag and spun out 20 feet behind the hole.

Hinkle’s 65 left him ahead of this tournament’s other big-name golfer, Lenny Clements, who shot a 66 Saturday and will open today’s final round three back at 17-under 201. Tied with Clements is Mark Aebli, who also shot a 66 Saturday.

Second-round co-leaders Jeff Wilson and Jeff Hart both faltered somewhat Saturday, Wilson shooting a 70 to fall four back and Hart a 73 to fall seven shots off the pace.

“All I know is that it sounds like these guys are somewhat afraid of me,” Hinkle said. “I don’t know why, though. If they want to be afraid of somebody, it should be Clements. He’s proved over the last few years that he’s an excellent golfer.”

Clements, who was tied for the lead during the third round of the U.S. Open, also had a compliment for his opponent.

“This course favors somebody who can hit the ball as long as Lon can,” Clements said. “You can hit it far and not get into trouble.”

“Hey, I just played real well,” Hinkle said. “Out of the 14 driving holes, I only used my driver seven times. (On the other seven holes, he used a 1-iron.) There’s a time and a place to go after it, but this wasn’t it. You can’t win any tournaments on Saturday, but you can lose some.”

On the par-5, 487-yard 17th, Hinkle proved his point. Instead of going for the green in two, he used two iron shots to lay up 65 yards short of the green. He then dropped a wedge shot within two feet and sank a short putt for birdie.

Although Hinkle says Clements is the player to beat, and Clements says it’s Hinkle, what if neither comes through today?

It could be left up to Aebli, 30, a pro who has tried three times without success to obtain his PGA Tour card. He has been playing on the Asian tour for much of the last year and is only here because he inherited some land in San Bernardino from his grandfather and wanted to see it.

“I haven’t even seen it yet,” Aebli said. “But if it’s nice, I’m going to put it up for sale. I need the money.”

Should he play well again today, he could add $12,000, this tournament’s first prize, to his kitty.