Frys.com Open round four: Will McNeill do a Woods or come up Short?

So which is to be? Will George McNeill go on to be a big golfing name like Tiger Woods or Jim Furyk, or is he going to end up another one-shot wonder like Wes Short Jr or Phil Tataurangi? These are all guys who won their first (and, in the case of the latter pair, only) PGA event at Las Vegas, Tiger famously in his rookie year. There are a few straws to suggest McNeill might also be a coming man.

His two big weaknesses have been hitting fairways and greens. The first is less of a concern than the second and his most recent stats suggest he is undoubtedly improving on that score. Admittedly this is not a particularly challenging track but, along with his already laser-like putter, hitting the greens was the vital ingredient in the Las Vegas win - the top three on the leaderboard were all top five for greens in regulation. On courses that cater for big hitters he will certainly be one to keep an eye on. Let’s not forget either that he’s a handy man to have around when there’s wind about - his performance in Saturday’s big blow was essentially what won it for him.

But most impressive was the businesslike way McNeill handled the final day. Sure, he was among friends without the intimidating razzmatazz of a more top-level event. And it was quickly clear only D J Trahan was in with a realistic shout of snagging him. But McNeill went out with the perfect safety-first strategy and executed it to a tee, to the point where he only dropped a shot on the last hole when it didn’t matter a jot. That was uber cool.

It’s been a pretty noteworthy sporting weekend, what with Ernie Els getting back to serious winning ways, Lorena Ochoa creaming the opposition to confirm her status as LPGA player of the year, Bernhard Langer destroying the opposition in his new Champions Tour home, Rory McIlroy getting his second straight top five finish in only his third pro event - oh and, how could I forget, England making the Rugby World Cup final (had to get that one in!) Maybe they put McNeill’s victory in the shade, but who knows that another small bit of history wasn’t made in Las Vegas this weekend?