Once again later rounds of play were postponed in the 72nd annual Senior PGA at Valhalla on Friday night. None the less, there was plenty of golf to satiate even the most ardent fan and going into the championship rounds, beginning Saturday morning the leader board has seen its share of shifting.
Not in the top position though, Kiyoshi Murota of Japan, has held the first place position throughout much of the tournament and continues to hold it Saturday morning. Much of the surprise purely comes from a lack of name recognition to American golf fans as Murota has played in America only a few times.
Murota holds a four stroke lead going into day three above Nick Price of Zimbabwe and Hale Irwin of Arizona, who are currently tied for second.
Further the defending champion and number one seed in the world, Tom Lehman is tied for 22nd.
The weather seems to have left this contest open for an upset, but it’s these upcoming rounds that will really dictate what direction the tournament will go in.
Fortunately, according to the weather channel rain is not predicted today, with highs in the 80’s the first day of the championship rounds should provide steadier golfing weather. Of course, I’ve heard that from meteorologists before, and it’s really next to impossible to tell what the weather is going to do in the Ohio River Valley.
The local talents of Franklin, Kentucky’s number five seed Kenny Perry is well below where most speculators believed he’d be- tied for 29th, and southern Indiana’s Fuzzy Zoeller at eight over is currently ranked at 106.
Network TV coverage commences on NBC at three this afternoon and is set to conclude by six, of course this is only a small part of the golf that’s set to be played at Valhalla today.
Image courtesy of Valhalla Golf Course
