Watson and Prugh in Lead at Bob Hope Classic

At the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, California, where no one could ask for more perfect sunny and warm golf weather, Bubba Watson and Alex Prugh are tied for the lead going into the final day. The Classic will wrap up on Monday at the Arnold Palmer Private course, and the finale could be an upset for players like Watson and Prugh who made mistakes that kept them from pulling ahead of the other players who were inching up on the leaderboard. Jo Ogilvie is a third man who could have decisively pulled out in front but made mistakes that kept him from doing so.

In the 4th round, Watson double-bogeyed the last hole which left him tied for the lead with Prugh instead of pulling him to the top. Prugh, a relatively new golfer in the PGA Tour also bogeyed his last hole by missing a 3-foot putt. Ogilvie double-bogeyed the 17th hole. That left him 3 strokes back at the end of play on Sunday.

Ogilvie said that you can't double-bogey and win the Hope Classic, but it looks like it could be entirely possible to do it this year, given that leaders have all done it and the tour is missing the top 35 players in the sport. So the top 3 or 4 players going into Monday have a unique opportunity to win this coveted tournament.

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Watson's final double-bogey wasn't the only disappointment of the day. His second shot went into a water hazard; perhaps a hint at what might come later. The double-bogey on the 18th hole came from missing a putt only 6 feet away from the hole. He finished with 3-under 69 to tie Prugh for the tournament at 23-under 265. Tim Clark and Bill Haas were tied just behind them at one stroke back, then Ogilvie followed them at 21 under. Mike Weir was behind Ogilvie by one stroke.

The top 4 on the leaderboard--Watson, Prugh, Clark and Haas-have never before managed a PGA win. Ogilvie has one PGA victory under his belt, back in 2007. If Mike Haas manages to pull ahead and win the Hope Classic on Monday, that would make him and his father, Jay Haas, only the 8th father and son combo to win a PGA tour event.

Though Watson had plenty of trouble on the course, he did manage 6 birdies during play and could have been the clear leader if not for the disappointing double-bogey at the end. Prugh, the other player tied in the lead, won the New Zealand Open last year and is making his 3rd PGA Tour start with the Hope Classic this year.

Though Watson and Prugh are in the lead now, anything can happen on Monday given the mistakes and uneven play that's carried through the tournament. Watson has been in lead position before going into the last day of a tournament, both in the 2007 Houston Open and the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational, and failed to win either tournament.

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