Canadian Open, round three: Mahan could spoil Vijay's day

There’s trickery afoot at Angus Glen, or so say a number players this weekend. They believe the course has been “tricked up” in an attempt to turn a pussy cat into a Tiger.

It’s pretty much agreed the pin positions are the only thing making this course anything like an “Open” challenge. Stephen Ames is adamant that because the greens were over-watered the powers that be tried to compensate by putting the pins on sloping parts of many greens to make them hard to hit. If the greens had been firm, he says, the pins would have been unplayable.

Third round leader Vijay Singh wouldn’t go that far, but he certainly found the placements “very unusual” and seemed to suggest they were responsible for him dropping a few vital shots. “I’ve never seen pins on those slopey parts … They have managed to find some really difficult ones that even we shake our heads at.” And when Vijay starts shaking his head you can be sure all is not well with the world.

So instead of going into the final round with a two or even three shot cushion, Vijay has allowed the chasing pack to smell blood. It wasn’t just his putter that let him down - it was actually his best putting round so far - but his driving. He was only able to find eight fairways.

His last-minute droop left more than a few punters cursing after they had followed his price all the way down to 1.55. It’s now back to almost 2.3.

Thanks to the PGA Tour website, we know that he is 17 from 26 for winning from a third-round lead. He was a wire-to-wire winner at the season opener in Hawaii, but had established a three-shot cushion by the Sunday. Now, even Jim Furyk must feel he has been reprieved, even though he is three strokes behind.

Hunter Mahan, rising Lazarus-like after the horror of Friday, must also fancy his chances as he has a habit of low final rounds (65 on his last three Sundays). And those who think Singh is nailed on might like to recall that he has been known to go into reverse on Sunday this season.

I thought Steve Allan would have faded by now, but this is the second round where he has almost hit the front. His putting, however, has been getting progressively worse, which is why I don’t fancy his chances. John Mallinger, though, is also putting in a strong bid to get his first victory, and you can’t dismiss Pat Perez, who has had his moments this season.

Ach, that’s enough fence-sitting. Unless Furyk can channel his winless frustration into a low round - and greens that are now definitely starting to firm up could thwart that - I see Mahan as the main threat to Singh’s third win of the season. The Fijian’s surely too much of an old hand to let the other whippersnappers get the better of him.