Between Pebble and Hard Place

Distance is a big deal in pro golf, and it’s not always about how far you hit the ball. For Arron Oberholser, he turned his game around when he discovered the most important distance was not how far he was down the fairway, but someplace else instead.

“The six inches between my ears,” he said.

Two years ago, Oberholser was tied for the lead going into the last round of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, shot 76 in a meltdown and got run over by Vijay Singh. Today on the same Pebble Beach course, Oberholser is again in the final group entering the last round, this time tied for the lead with Mike Weir.

So what does he make of that, exactly?

“New year, new me, we’ll see,” Oberholser said.

On paper, it might seem a mismatch between a 31-year-old non-winner such as Oberholser and a 35-year-old seven-time winner and Masters champion such as Weir.

But after spending a breezy Saturday at Pebble Beach, Oberholser’s third-round 66 did more than simply improve his position in the tournament. It also reinforced his newly formulated attitude toward himself.

“I think I’m a little wiser, obviously a little older, more experienced, and I’m really starting to not sweat the small stuff,” he said. “I’m not going to get too ticked off at bad shots.”

There weren’t too many of those for either Oberholser or Weir, who ignored past unpleasantness at Spyglass Hill to post a three-under 69 and catch Oberholser at 17-under 199.

Oberholser’s task today might be burdensome, but Weir has his own issues. He hasn’t won in almost exactly two years, since the Nissan Open in 2004, and he is coming off an unsatisfying year battling the lingering effects of a neck injury.

What’s more, Weir has either held the 54-hole lead or been tied for it in seven tournaments and he has won only once -- at Riviera two years ago.

But Weir believes his experience winning tournaments is an advantage.

“No question about it,” the 2003 Masters champion said. “It’s a different mind-set for him compared to me. It’s a little bit different when you’re going for your first one.”

If it’s not strictly a two-player race today at Pebble Beach, it’s close.

Luke Donald is third, six shots behind the leaders after his third-round 71 at Poppy Hills. Nick Watney, Rory Sabbatini, Brian Davis and Harrison Frazar are still in the running, at least mathematically, but they’re barely hanging on at 10-under 206.

For a while, it seemed that Phil Mickelson would be in business and threatening, but his 67 at Pebble Beach wasn’t enough. Mickelson failed to birdie any of the four par-fives and knew he was following something less than a recipe for success.

“It’s killing me,” the defending champion said. “It hurts not birdieing the par-fives. Those are all reachable with mid-irons. I don’t know what to say.”

Mickelson is tied for 11th at eight under and trailing the leaders by nine shots. He did know what to say about that.

“As it looks now, winning is a little far-fetched.”

The journey into the winner’s circle has been a difficult one for Oberholser, who hasn’t gotten there yet, although he has come close. He was second at the 2004 Wachovia when he lost to Joey Sindelar on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, closing with a 72 after holding a one-shot lead.

But that one probably wasn’t as painful as getting dusted by Singh a couple of months earlier at Pebble Beach. Oberholser is about as local a product as you can find around here, from San Mateo High and San Jose State, but he said the pressure associated with his background didn’t affect him nearly as much as playing against Singh.

“I was a deer in the headlights,” Oberholser said. “I was going up against, in my opinion, even though Tiger had the No. 1 ranking, [Singh] was the No. 1 player in the world. He was just on fire and he was winning everything. But I wasn’t present at all that entire day.

“I was too busy paying attention to him and not enough to what I was doing. It was a very stressful day. I let the moment get away from me.”

It will be different moment today, Oberholser said.

“I just think I’m matured, it’s that simple.”

Oberholser can only hope for something like a repeat of Saturday’s round, which featured seven birdies and just one bogey.

He had five birdies in a nine-hole stretch in the middle of his round, after starting on the back nine. Oberholser hit a wedge to six feet at the 13th and made the putt for a birdie. He hit an eight-iron to 20 feet at the par-three 17th and made it, then rolled in a 40-foot putt to birdie the 543-yard 18th, his ninth hole.

Weir said his own experiences of playing at home in Canada in front of his countrymen may spell problems for Oberholser.

“When you have that much support, it makes you want to try harder, which doesn’t always work out in golf.”

Comedian Bill Murray went to great lengths in his routine during the pro-am part of the tournament.

Besides being assessed a two-shot penalty for showing up late, he also tackled a CBS cameraman and wrapped up the guy’s legs in the camera cable as if he was roping a calf. He and pro partner Scott Simpson missed the cut by one shot.