Tiger’s title for the taking?
TROON, Scotland — For the first time all week at the British Open, Tiger Woods looked locked-in and ready to make a serious charge at the leaders, as he did in the third round of the last Open championship held at Royal Troon.
Woods birdied three of his first four holes Saturday and appeared geared up to match the 64 he threw at the field on tournament Saturday in 1997. But he could post only one more birdie and ended up with a 68.
The round left Woods tied for seventh at 4-under-par 209 and trailing 54-hole leader Todd Hamilton by 4 strokes. But he’s in the thick of things amid a glittering leaderboard; five men who have won major championships are within 5 shots of the lead.
“I knew I needed to shoot a good round to give myself a chance going into Sunday,” Woods said. “I was able to do that. So now I’ve got a fighting chance. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll play just like I did today and give myself some more looks and some putts.”
Woods had those looks early with short birdie putts at the first and second holes, and a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fourth. He also birdied the seventh to get within 2 strokes of the lead, but had 10 pars and one bogey (No. 12) after that.
Woods hopes to end his major championship drought — he hasn’t won one since the 2002 U.S. Open. But he knows it’s going to be a battle.
“Hopefully I can go out there and play the way I played all week, make a few putts and get it going,” he said. “Don’t forget, anyone at the top of the board is playing well. You have to go out there and win the championship. Hopefully I’ll play well enough to win it.”
Hometown hero Montgomerie
He’s up, he’s down, he’s happy, he’s miserable, he’s Colin Montgomerie, the hometown hero who is still in the race at the British Open, but just barely. And that would make him happy if he wasn’t so sad.
Montgomerie started the third round two shots off the lead and ended it five shots down after his round of 1-over 72 Saturday at Royal Troon that included a missed putt and a deflating bogey at the 18th, only minutes after he had doffed his cap to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd that chanted his name from the grandstand.
Monty was miffed when he missed that putt.
“It was an exceptionally good putt and I am sure if you look at an action replay, it might actually go in this time,” he said. “I hit it exactly where I wanted it to and how it missed, I don’t know.”
There has been a lot of pressure on Montgomerie, whose father was the longtime secretary at Royal Troon, and he said it’s not much fun.
“No, not at all, and anyone who says this is fun is joking and they’re having a laugh. This is not fun and this is not enjoyment. This is a job and a horrible one.”
Yet, he’s still in the hunt, as he reminded the media on Saturday that Justin Leonard trailed by five entering the final round of the 1997 Open at Royal Troon, and finished with a 65 to grab the claret jug.
“He won,” Montgomerie said, “but he didn’t have the support I’m going to have (today)”.
A leg up for Mickelson
Phil Mickelson’s bid to win his second major of the year was nearly short-circuited when he saw his tee shot at the par-4 15th drift toward a road to the right of the fairway that was out of bounds.
But the ball struck the leg of a man sitting on the edge of the road with his legs in-bounds, allowing Mickelson to put a provisional ball he had hit back into his pocket. He went on and parred the hole.
“The hole doglegs to the left, but I got (a 3-wood) hooking in a left-to-right wind,” said Mickelson, who finished with a bogey-free 68. “When I saw it up in the air, I thought it was out. There was nothing to stop it, other than a gentleman’s leg.
“It should have gone out. It clearly was a tremendous break. Every now and then you need something like that to keep you up there.”
Not Kendall’s best day
Skip Kendall insisted he had no trouble sleeping with the 36-hole lead at the British Open.
“I slept great,” he said. “I actually didn’t get out of bed until 11 o’clock. I felt great. We watched a bunch of movies. Probably the hardest thing is waiting until 3:30 to play. That’s a long time.”
The native of suburban Milwaukee started with a three-putt bogey at the first hole and made no birdies the entire day, carding a 75 that dropped him into a tie for ninth with Montgomerie and Mike Weir.
“I felt pretty good out there,” said Kendall, still looking for his first PGA Tour victory in this, his 311th career event. “Really, nothing happened. I didn’t make any putts. It’s kind of unfortunate.”
Calcavecchia pays respects
For some reason, and Mark Calcavecchia has no idea why, he plays well at Royal Troon. It’s where he won his only major, the 1989 British Open, and the last time he was here, in 1997, he tied for 10th.
After making the cut with a birdie at the 18th, Calcavecchia shot a 2-under 69 Saturday, and hopes he can sneak into the top 20.
He said he has nothing for respect for Royal Troon.
“It’s tough just because of the wind and the bad bounces you can get. You have to accept what happens to you. You’re going to get some bad bounces. The very next hole you might hit a bad shot. You can make two bogeys in a row and the whole thing comes crashing down. It’s just a very mentally taxing golf course.”
Ex-champ Curtis in small group
When Ben Curtis missed the cut, he became only the fifth British Open defending champion to miss the cut in the last 50 years.