Ogilvy Goes Great Distance to Shoot 65

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Geoff Ogilvy could have said something along the lines of "to hell with it."

He didn't.

Instead the former U.S. Open champ from Australia posted a 6-under par 65 Saturday in third-round play at the Transitions Championship to put himself back in the tournament. Ogilvy may be a long shot going into Sunday's final round at Innisbrook Resort seven shots behind leader Jim Furyk's 11 under, but for that he deserves a lot of credit.

Not to mention a good night's sleep.

"It was weird," Ogilvy said.

After finishing Friday's second round at Innisbrook' Copperhead course 2-over par and tied for 85th, seemingly well over the projected cut line, Ogilvy booked a flight home to Phoenix and headed to Tampa International Airport. Except, plans changed as he was sitting in the airport terminal drinking a beer and waiting for departure.

"I thought I'm pretty safe to miss the cut," he said. "The weather was perfect in the afternoon."

But sitting in the airport, Ogilvy used his cell phone to get a tournament update -- and discovered, all of a sudden, he was tied for 77. By the time the flight boarded, he had moved to 72nd with a bullet.

Considering the low 70 scores and ties would make the cut and play on the weekend, it caused Ogilvy to rethink his travel plans.

"I'm like, 'I can't do this,' " Ogilvy said. "I've got to get off. So about 20 minutes before we leave, I get off the plane and say, 'I've kind of got an emergency. Can I get my bags off the plane?"

In a word: No.

The plane was full with a lot of tight connections. If Ogilvy wanted off the plane, no problem. If he expected his luggage to leave with him, that was another matter. It meant his golf clubs were going to Phoenix with or without him -- and could not be returned to Tampa until late Saturday

"I said, 'Well, that's hopeless,' " Ogilvy said.

So he made an honorable decision.

"The only way for me to actually get my bags with me in Tampa, today, was fly all the way to Phoenix, get my bags in Phoenix and fly all the way back," Ogilvy said. "So what's that I did. I flew all the way to Phoenix last night,"

But guess what? Before Ogilvy decided to re-board the plane to accompany his clubs, his first-class seat had been reassigned. He settled for last seat in coach on the way to a connection in Houston, where, when he arrived, there were a ton of text messages and email reporting that he had made the cut and had an early Saturday tee time.

Ogilvy arrived in Phoenix about 1 a.m. EDT. Wife Juli met him at the airport with a pair of golf shoes and extra golf balls, because he had already overnighted his other shoes and balls home so as not to exceed the luggage weight limit.

Less than an hour later, he was on a chartered flight back to Tampa, landing just before sunrise.

Barely three hours after touch down, Ogilvy was on the first tee -- with pretty much no sleep.

"It was worth coming back," he said.

Big time.

Even par after eight holes, Ogilvy played this final 10 holes six under.

"I holed a lot of putts today," he said. "I hit the ball nicely. Even the holes I didn't birdie, I was playing nicely. So it's nice to be back in the tournament when 24 hours ago, I thought I was on my way home."

Instead, he begins final-round play tied for 18th, only four shots out of a second-place logjam that includes defending tournament champ Retief Goosen, past winners K.J. Choi and Carl Pettersson and Bubba Watson.

What a trip.