Golf Central

Snead and son, 1956

On this day, in 1945, Sam Snead won the Dallas Open, his fifth of six victories that season.

Samuel Jackson Snead was born in 1912 in Virginia and is recognised by many as one of the greatest golfers ever. He won a staggering 82 PGA Tour events, a record, was the first player ever to shoot his age (67) in the 1979 Quad Cities Open and is also the oldest ever winner of a PGA tour event, at 52 years and 10 months. Snead clocked up seven majors on his way to being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.

Also on this day, in 1947, the first ever computer bug was discovered as a moth lodged itself in the relay of the Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University.

Meanwhile, in 1994, Sachin Tendulkar scored the first of his many ODI centuries in a match against Australia in Sri Lanka.

And it's Flavius Honorius! As they said in ancient Rome, to; Rod Stewart's ex, Rachel Hunter, (38), shouty comic actor, Adam Sandler (41) and fop, Hugh Grant (47). It would also have been Otis Redding's 66th birthday had his plane not crashed in 1967.

Woods' Jedi training was working wonders

One more day left then, who's the man to beat?
Well, Arron Baddeley and Steve Stricker are in the lead but Tiger Woods, one shot behind them, will be the one to watch. Woods shot a 65 to take him to 15-under and give Baddeley and Stricker a reason to look nervously over their shoulders.

And how about Justin Rose?
His challenge has faltered and he's now five shots off the leaders in third place. Ian Poulter was similarly disappointing and finished at four-under after a round of 69.

That doesn't sound too bad...
Well, normally it wouldn't be but he needs to finish first or second to progress to the next round of the FedEx. It seems like The Tour Championship will be less one pair of brightly coloured trousers next week.

Ah. So what's going on with all that anyway?
At the moment Stricker and Woods are second and third respectively after Mickelson who has taken the week off. The top 30 ranked players after this weekend will go through to the last event.

Got you. And How about the IGWT tips?
Furyk is eight shots off the lead and Sabbatini is 11 behind. Looks like we won't be eating again this week. Mind if I come round yours for Sunday lunch?

......
Hello?

Sion Bebb: In the hunt...

Three days in then, has Oliver Wilson managed to keep his lead?
Nope, unfortunately for him he lost the top spot that he had occupied for the first two days after he strained his neck getting up and then struggled to a one-under round of 70.

So where does that leave him?
Laid up in bed resting his neck I imagine. He'll return tomorrow in second place, one shot behind Brett Rumford and Bradley Dredge who are both on a 13-under-par 200. Rumford will be looking for his third Tour victory, while Dredge is hoping to make it back to back wins in this event. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Sion Bebb are tied third.

Sion Bebb? Never heard of him...
He's the son of Welsh rugby legend Dewi Bebb and fighting to keep his Tour card and avoid qualifying school. He shot the low round of the weekend, an eight-under 63, one stroke off the course record.

Fighting to keep his Tour card? That seems a bit extreme
Yep, he threatens to beat up his playing partners unless they sign off low scores for him.

Really?
Nah.

OK. So what's going on at Cog Hill then?
Byrd and Baddeley share the lead after day two.

Byrd and Baddeley? That sounds like a bad detective show...
Nonetheless, Aaron Baddeley and Johnathan Byrd are tied at nine-under-par after rounds of 65 and 69 respectively. Tiger Woods shot a 67 to take him to minus eight with Justin Rose, Steve Stricker and Camilo Villegas.

Rose is still up there then, how did the other Brits do?
Ian Poulter is seven back at two under but will need to finish no worse than second to advance to next week's Tour Championship. Luke Donald is way off at four over.

And how about the IGWT tips?
Rory Sabbatini is eight shots off the lead, while Furyk is six shots off and Allenby ten shots.

Yep, we're definitely in Switzerland

So is Wilson still going strong?
Yeah, he's alright, it was all Steve Coogan's fault you know...

Oliver Wilson, not Owen Wilson
Oh. Oliver Wilson is taking a one shot lead over Bradley Dredge into the weekend's play.

Who else is doing well?
Australia's Brett Rumford is third, two shots back and England's Philip Archer is fourth, a further shot behind.

Anything else of note?
Alessandro Tadini shot a hole in one at the third hole and won a one kilo gold ingot and 16 year old Hawaiian Tadd Fujikawa made an albatross at the ninth, despite missing the cut.

A gold ingot? What would you even do with that?
Doorstop? Paper weight? Dunno. Either way, his hole in one was impressive.