It’s Still Pate--by One Shot

Only twice in 47 PGA Tour events last year did anyone lead from the first round to the finish.

So, Steve Pate, how do you like those odds?

“I don’t pay any attention to that at all,” said Pate, the first-, second- and third-round leader of the MONY Tournament of Champions at La Costa. “I’m not too concerned about that kind of statistic.”

Then here’s another statistic: $90,000. Someone will concern himself with that today when he wins.

What Pate will be trying to do in the final 18 holes is called leading wire-to-wire. But Pate, who shot a 70 Saturday to lead Larry Nelson by a single stroke, doesn’t think that wire is wound too tightly around his neck.

“I’ll just try to go out, play well and see what happens,” he said.

Maybe Nelson will happen to Pate again.

Nelson, who put up a third-round score of 68, caught Pate with a final-round 63 to win the Walt Disney World tournament last year.

With that finish, Nelson produced the biggest comeback on the 1987 PGA Tour by making up six shots. That was not too unusual for Nelson. In his other victory last year, Nelson came from behind on the final day of the PGA Championship to catch Lanny Wadkins and then beat him in a playoff.

“I don’t mind being behind,” Nelson said.

As long as it’s not after the final round, of course.

The wind picked up Saturday, and so did the scores. Just five players shot below 70, but Nelson was the only one who still has a chance to win.

It’s basically a four-man race between Pate, Nelson, Nick Faldo and Dave Barr. Faldo, who had a 71, and Barr, who shot a 73, are both four strokes off the pace that is still being set by Pate.

Pate found a few reasons for his confidence to remain unshaken. He is still 14 under par after his round of 70 and he doesn’t have a long memory.

“Obviously, I’m happy to be in the position I’m in,” he said. “I putted pretty poorly on the back side, but I still have the lead, so there’s not too much to be concerned about. I’m just going to forget about what happened.”

And how long is that going to take?

“About 30 minutes,” he said.

Pate bogeyed three of the last five holes, twice when he landed in bunkers. On No. 18, a 7-iron put Pate 40 feet away from the hole and he three-putted.

So far, Nelson hasn’t had a bit of trouble on the back nine. He scored his third consecutive 33 with four birdies and a bogey and thinks he’s playing as well as he has in his career.

The Tournament of Champions is Nelson’s seventh event since August and he has placed first twice, second and fourth in the other six.

This is not exactly being streaky, like riding a wave, he said.

“I don’t know anyone who can ride a wave for five months,” he said.

Nelson is surprised to be playing so well here because until he got to La Costa, he had not practiced since winning the New Zealand Open in mid-December.

“I wasn’t expecting anything, which tends to make you think about the shot at hand instead of anything else,” Nelson said. “Because I haven’t played very much, I’ve spent a lot more time concentrating on my swing.”

Nelson began his charge when he birdied the second hole. He used a pitching wedge to get to within 35 feet of the cup, then sank a birdie putt.

“Right then, it seemed like it was going to be a pretty good day,” Nelson said.

Despite swirling breezes, Nelson kept getting closer to Pate. He sank short putts to birdie No. 11 and No. 12, then rolled in a 15-footer on No. 13 and a 10-footer on No. 15.

Nelson said he hadn’t played enough to worry about his game, but he did allow himself two concerns. He worried about how his legs would hold up and about keeping his head still, but that was all.

“Anything past that, it would be paralysis,” he said.

There is a chance of rain for today’s final round, but neither Pate nor Nelson seemed too concerned about the possibility of rain, other than the annoyance factor.

“The ball hasn’t rolled all week anyway,” Nelson said. “But if it’s windy, that’s a different story.”

Faldo surely had a different round from Friday when he shot seven consecutive birdies. But Faldo got only two to drop in Saturday and wound up losing a stroke to Pate.

Barr experienced a double-bogey 7 on No. 12 and fell from one shot back to four back at 206, which is 10 under par.

J.C. Snead and Keith Clearwater are both seven under par, seven shots back of Pate and six behind Nelson, who doesn’t think Pate will be affected by his catch-up and victory last year in the Disney World.

“Everyone that’s a pretty good player has been in the same position (as Pate),” Nelson said. “I don’t even know if he would think about being in the same position. But if he might if you bought it up.”

When he was reminded, Pate was unconcerned about what had happened before and only mildly concerned about his last five holes Saturday.

“I had some decent par putts all day, I just didn’t make them,” Pate said. “Were the last five holes downers? Yeah, I guess you can say that. We’ll see what happens by tomorrow morning.”