Frys.com Open Round Three: Plenty of riders left on the Vegas roller-coaster

“If Shigeki wins I shall throw the computer through the window…. “. So wrote a frustrated punter on the forums early Sunday morning, not because he’d layed Shigeki Maruyama, but because he’d stopped backing him. This is one of the great frustrations of golf betting: you zero in on a player you think is working up to a win, but after he lets you down over two or three weekends you give up. Next week, hey presto, victory!

It’s happened to me more times than I care to mention. Which is why I am praying my patience with Charley Hoffman over recent weeks may be about to pay off.

One shot clear with four holes still to play of the delayed round three sounds good. But this is a roller-coaster tournament and Troy Matteson is just a shot behind with two more holes to play. Matteson has been a hot contender over the last three weeks, although he choked at the end last Sunday.

It would be no great surprise if he or Maruyama, playing in between these two, sneaked into the lead at the end of the third. I sympathise with the frustrated forumite because I detected a Shigeki revival myself a week or two back, only to quit in frustration.

The problem all these guys are going to have, though, is stamina. They will be up at sparrowfart Sunday to finish their third rounds, while the likes of Daniel Chopra and Ben Crane get all the rest they need ahead of their later tee-offs.

This is far from the first time Chopra has been in the mix Sunday and he has the kind of hot putter which looks like winning this competition. But he has a habit of falling over with the wire in sight and I am a bit more tempted by Crane, whose putter has been on fire except for a horrendous second round. Putts per GIR figures of 1.42 and 1.56 in rounds one and three are scorching!

Others I’ll keep an eye on are Tom Pernice Jr, clearly aware he is hovering just above the Tour Championship cut line, and Bart Bryant, one of the form picks I had to cull from my preview.

Anyone who fancies some frenetic Sunday trading could be in luck. The weather should be fine throughout - sunny, virtually no wind - so it should be a birdie paradise. You never know, maybe even Jim Furyk will join in, though I’m not holding my breath.