RTO Notebook

RTO Notebook

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

RENO - The wind is the great equalizer at Montreux Golf & Country Club.

Without it, you would probably see a plethora of red numbers everyday at the Reno-Tahoe Open, and the winner would probably shoot 25-under-par or better.

Only 11 of the 78 golfers remaining in the RTO field shot in the 60s on Saturday, and 28 total were under par. Forty-three percent of the field shot 72 or above.

The wind keeps the players honest. It makes for difficult club selections and it's tough to putt in windy conditions. The winds gusted to approximately 30 miles-per-hour on Saturday.

"It's an easy three shots," said Reno's Todd Fischer, who lives on the second hole at Montreux, when asked about playing in the morning compared to later in the day.

Steve Flesch, the third-round leader at 15-under-par 201, agreed.

"I'd say at least three," Flesch said. "It's hard to get the ball close to the hole. Putting is more difficult because the greens lose moisture because of the lack of humidity and high winds."

Flesch said he even lost his balance a bit while putting one time. Many of the golfers complained that the wind swirled constantly.

"It wasn't consistent one way or the other," former UCLA star John Merrick said. "One second you are downwind and the next second you are going into the wind."

ROOKIES ON THE PROWL

Merrick is looking to add his name to a growing list of rookies making a splash on the PGA Tour.

While 2007 has been a good year for rookies on the PGA Tour (five with earnings over $1 million), none have won yet. Brandt Snedeker (Buick Invitational), Jeff Quinney (FBR Open) and Anthony Kim ( Zurich Classic) all have a third-place finish to their credit.

"It gives you that belief that you can do that too," Merrick said.

WILL HAS THE BLUES

Defending champion Will MacKenzie suffered through his second consecutive 1-over-par 73 and his at 4-over 220 after three rounds.

MacKenzie, who has been featured in a couple of national publications since winning the RTO last year, isn't happy with his game right now.

"Obviously my golf game has to improve," MacKenzie said. "I've been disappointed in the transition the last couple of days. That's the game of golf. You are guesstimating out here. You hit a 9-iron 190 yards. I'm just judging wrong. I made a lot of silly bogeys. Last year I judged right."

MacKenzie will be back in action at next week's PGA Tournament, the first major of his career.

"I'm stoked," he said.

HOLE PERFORMANCE

The hole stats have changed a little after three rounds.

The toughest hole is the No. 8, a 477-yard par-4, which played to a 4.192 average. The second-toughest is No. 7, a par-3 that played 207 yards, and has played to a 3.166 average.

The easiest hole is No. 4, the 518-yard par-5, which has played to a 4.618 average. The second-easiest hole is the par-5 584-yard 11th, which is playing to a 4.760 average.

EAGLE TIME

There were seven eagles on Saturday, and five of them came at No. 4, the

518-yard par-5.

Kevin Stadler, who was born in Reno and lived here for a few years, former

British Open champion Todd Hamilton, Neal Lancaster, Grant Waite and Kent

Jones eagled No. 4.

The other two came at the par-5 9th and the par-5 17th. Andrew Buckle eagled

No. 9 and Kyle Reifer eagled No. 17.

GOING THE WRONG WAY

Charles Warren, who surged into contention with a 9-under 63 on Friday, found the going a bit tougher on Saturday. Warren shot a 1-over-par 73, but still sits alone in fifth place at 9-under par 207. He trails leader Steve Flesch by six strokes.

Warren dropped to 3-over-par on the day and 7-under-par after a bogey at No. 12, but got it back to 9-under with birdies at No. 15 and No. 16.

THE OLD GUARD

Two PGA Tour veterans, Jeff Maggert and Steve Elkington, made nice moves up the leaderboard on Saturday.

Maggert shot a 5-under-par 67 and is at 7-under 209. He had back-to-back 71s in the first two rounds.

"I made a few putts on the front nine," said Maggert, who has been a member of Ryder and Presidents Cup teams in his career. "On a windy day like this, you just want to hang in there to have a chance."

Meanwhile, Elkington shot his second 3-under-par 69 in three days and is tied for sixth at 8-under 208. It's highly unlikely either could win, but both are in a nice position to cash a nice check, especially if they can shoot a red number.

• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281