McCarron Is the Leader of the Pack

The riddle goes something like this:

Two men stay in separate hotel rooms, each with a black box, a padlock and a key. One has a diamond he wants to send to the other by way of a thieving bellboy who will steal anything but the diamond. How does he do it?

Charles Howell III has no idea.

But thinking about it helped him shoot a record-tying 28 through the first nine holes at the Nissan Open, and that was enough to put the 22-year-old within striking distance in today’s final round at Riviera Country Club.

“I know this is going to sound crazy,” he said. “It got my mind off of golf.”

Now the Georgia native must figure his way out of another type of conundrum: a tightly bunched pack that includes six players within four strokes of one another.

Scott McCarron stands atop the leaderboard at 14 under, shooting a six-under 65 thanks largely to a 56-foot putt for eagle on No. 17. Toru Taniguchi, the so-called “Japanese Tiger,” is one stroke back. Len Mattiace is two back. Rory Sabbatini and Brad Faxon are three back, followed by Howell at four.

Think of it as golf’s version of short-track speedskating, a pack of competitors racing shoulder-to-shoulder, coming around the final turn.

“You’ve just got to go out there and play well,” McCarron said, reducing the problem to its lowest common denominator. “I plan on making a lot of birdies.”

That was certainly the answer Saturday, a morning of streaks and spurts when the players weren’t nearly as sluggish as the gray skies overhead.

As one of the brightest young stars on the tour, Howell started things off with an eagle on the par-five, 503-yard first hole. His streak continued with birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 9, sufficient to tie the front-nine record set by Andrew Magee in 1991. It was tonic to a golfer who had struggled earlier in the week.

“It was important for me to get off to a good start,” he said. “You hit a couple of good shots and get confidence.”

But then forces conspired to slow him down. Two groups were logjammed ahead at No. 10 and the 20-minute wait gave him time to get his mind off the riddle and back on his game. Next came missed birdie opportunities at Nos. 11 and 17 with a bogey sandwiched between on the 14th.

“You have to do a good job of not thinking about it,” he said. “But you have to think about it to not think about it.”

Before you try too hard to decipher that one, suffice to say that Howell cooled off for a round of 64 and the torch was passed to Sabbatini, who eagled No. 11 by hitting a five-wood to within four feet of the cup.

He was on his way to a 30 for the back nine, a score he believes could have been even better.

“I missed four or five putts that were makable,” he said.

McCarron was not nearly as spectacular, not for most of the day. The affable veteran--a UCLA alumnus returning to play before a contingent of old school chums--wasn’t particularly pleased with his game over the front nine. But unlike students taking an exam, golfers are allowed to peek at the person next to them.

On the 10th, McCarron noticed his pal, Faxon, putting with an open stance. That gave him an idea.

“I feed off him,” McCarron said. “I opened my stance and it started rolling pretty good.”

A string of birdies got him close to Taniguchi, still holding onto his lead from Friday with a sure and steady round. Then came No. 17.

A five-wood put McCarron at the edge of the green with a putt that was long but not daunting. Not with fast, firm greens getting such high marks from the field this week. Not with a player who has McCarron’s attitude.

“When I get inside 100 yards, I’m trying to make it,” he said. “Why not?”

However, he added, “they don’t go in very often.”

This time it did, drawing a roar from the gallery--the tournament drew a crowd of 41,319 on Saturday--and pushing him into a slight lead.

The swarm at the top did not seem to bother him much. With so many friends around, McCarron said he is intent on having a good time no matter what happens today.

As for Howell, he would be well-advised to have dinner with his buddy, first-round leader Jesper Parnevik.

It was Parnevik who got him psychologically prepared by telling him the riddle before Saturday’s round. The brain teaser still had him going after Saturday’s round.

“If anyone can figure it out,” Howell said, “let me know.”