Riviera Third Round Rap

Read this to a hip hop beat if you dare... Admittedly not my target audience, but go with the alliterative flow...

• Shack is back in the saddle and provides this third round scatter diagram of No. 10:

The hole changed fundamentally by virtue of the front pin, playing a mere 278 yards.  What's that for these gym rats, a 6-iron?  It's the first day it played under par, with two eagles (I saw Hunter Mahan's but don't know who made the other, and one lucky soul still made a 6).  Today the torment will return, with the typical back pin, necessitating a windmill per Charlie Beljan.

• As Shack points out, it'll be hard not to root for Jason Allred, despite the broomstick, trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win since Arjun Atwal in 2010. If the announcers are to be believed (and it's Sir Nick, after all), Allred has been the über-tour rabbit, following the Tour around trying to Monday qualify. Apparently he went as far as Oahu to try to qualify, and that's a long-haul to take a shot at a do-or-die 18 holes. Perhaps fewer guys do it, but that's dedication... or else he really doesn't want to have to get an indoor job.

• It was a competitive category for best shot of the day, but this was the runaway choice for cleverest shot:

No surprise to see Furyk play the wily vet, since he's been grinding out there since the Carter Administration.  But where were those wiles on the 16th tee at Olympic?  

• If William McGirt's nickname isn't "Dirt" it should be (bonus points for anyone who immediately associates that with Dick Tidrow from the great Yankee teams of the late 1970's).  Shack's got a great excerpt from his post-round presser, where he struggles to remember every satellite tour he's played on.  Best quote is this:

For guys that came through mini‑tours, I think we tend to appreciate things a lot more. We could be playing for less than our own entry fee, full entry fee every week. So, yeah, everything that's out here, nothing's taken for granted, I can assure you of that.

Out here, we have people that take days and weeks off work to help us, to volunteer to do stuff for us. I try to say thank you as much as I can to those folks, because without all the volunteers, we would not be able to do what we do.

And when you are around mini‑tours for eight years and go through a bunch of heartaches at Q‑School, once you finally get here, you really have to appreciate it.

Reader warning:  This is going to trigger a bit of a rant.  I've always found the struggles of guys like Allred and McGirt to be extremely compelling drama, and thought that the late season schedule was a perfect stage for it.  Obviously I watch more golf than the average bear, but I don't see where October and November golf is more compelling with a scattering of big names playing to bankroll the next G-5.

• It's a fun leaderboard, in that you've got a gaggle of the rabbits from -12 down through -9, including the aforementioned McGirt and Allred, but also including Brian Harman and George McNeil, household names all.  But at -8 you've got some firepower, including Bubba, Spieth, Schwartzel and DJ, not to mention Jimmy Walker, though they're probably just a shot or two too far back.  Logic says one of the rabbits posts a 68 or 69, and I don't see too many 65's out there.  But that's why we tune in...