Las Vegas, Nevada (May 12, 2012 UPDATE 800 PM PST)–A quick glance at the top 10 of the PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP in the early stages of the third round reveals six players who have some ties to the Las Vegas Golf Region. And then if you add into it the fact that the TPC Sawgrass course was designed by Pete Dye, who crafted three Las Vegas golf courses, then you might as well just refer to the event as the PLAYERS at Las Vegas. LEADERBOARD. –By Brian Hurlburt Follow @LVGolfInsider
We kid about the name of the tournament, but that doesn't lessen the impact of those golfers with ties to Las Vegas golf courses. Starting with last week's Wells Fargo champion Rickie Fowler, and ending with Adam Scott who was 10th at the this writing, there is plenty of Vegas flavor. Las Vegas' Kevin Na has the 54-hole lead.
Dye designed the three Las Vegas golf course at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, and the Wolf Course even has its own version of the famed 17th hole at Sawgrass, now a Dye legend. The par 3 15th hole is a Las Vegas favorite. Click now to view the official website of the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. You can learn about th FREE REPLAY Las Vegas golf deal at the site.
Fowler, one of the guys at the very top of the leaderboard, used to live in Las Vegas before moving to Florida. And Kevin Na, who was tied for the lead entering the third round, lives in Las Vegas. He is also the defending champion of Las Vegas' PGA Tour event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Also in the top 10 at the time of this writing is sentimental Vegas Golfer Jonattan Vegas. He doesn't live here, and has never won here, but we think you can guess why we love this guy. Near Jonny Vegas on the board is Adam Scott, the former UNLV golfer. He is close to Martin Laird, the 2009 champ of the JT Shriners Open.
And near those two is Jonathan Byrd who became the first golfer in PGA Tour history to make an Ace on his final shot to win an event. Byrd recorded the walk off ace at the 2010 JT Shriners Open. And lurking in the top 20 is Ryan Moore, the former 4-time UNLV All-American who also still lives here. That makes it a lucky seven Vegas golfers challenging for the title.
So, what happens here doesn't always stay here, it appears …
