Nice and clean: Woods shares lead in Dubai

Maybe shaving the goatee had something to do with it.

Five years ago, Tiger Woods blew his chance to win the Dubai Desert Classic on the 18th hole, sending a ball into the drink. On Saturday, he rallied on the same hole’s sprawling green to grab a share of the lead.

“It’s a pretty funky hole,” said Woods, who played it this time with a ricochet shot, netting him a birdie for a 5-under-par 67 that put his name atop the leaderboard with Danish journeyman Anders Hansen, at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Woods is back to his clean-shaven look, saying he got tired of the goatee.

“I forgot to bring my clippers and it was getting really itchy,” he said.

After hooking his drive into a grove of palm trees, Woods overclubbed with a 4-iron and landed his approach over the protecting pond and, on the fly, into the grandstands behind the green.

A fan made the catch and flipped the ball down to Woods, who smiled back.

“I had a backboard to hit it up against, which was nice,” said Woods, who took a drop, chipped to 5 feet and made his birdie putt on the 537-yard hole, which ends on a sweeping double green that also serves the ninth hole.

Hansen shot 69 to match Woods at 16-under 200 overall.

Retief Goosen, who was the co-leader after two rounds with Hansen, carded a 70 to fall one stroke off the pace at 15 under. Three more players are two shots behind the leaders – defending champion Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Australian left-hander Richard Green.

Woods opened with rounds of 67 and 66. Saturday was mostly survival – a fight with breezy desert wind, temperatures in the low 80s and adjustments to quickening, drying greens at the Emirates Golf Club.

Woods started two behind Hansen and Goosen, and fell three behind those two at the turn. Hansen stayed steady on the back nine, but Goosen bogeyed three holes on the back nine to fall off the pace.

Woods birdied Nos. 10, 13 and 14 with short putts, capping it with his final birdie on No. 18.

“I hit a lot of good shots on the back nine,” he said. “The front nine was kind of all right. I hit some indifferent ones, but I had some good ones sprinkled in there.”

Woods is said to have received $3 million to play the event, with the total prize money only $2.4 million.

A win in Dubai would give Woods back-to-back victories.

PGA Tour

According to family lore, J.B. Holmes was 14 months old when he took his first golf swing, and it hasn’t changed since.

“It’s just been God-given ability so far,” Holmes said.

The tour rookie with the booming drive shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead in the FBR Open at Scottsdale, Ariz., while a raucous record crowd of 168,337 partied around him.

The 23-year-old Kentuckian was at 16-under 197 through 54 holes. Second-round leader J.J. Henry (70) and Ryan Palmer (64) were one back at 15 under.

Justin Leonard shot a 65 and David Toms had a 66 to reach 13 under, and Colombian Camilo Villegas (66), a hit with the crowd in neon green-yellow pants, was another stroke back along with Dean Wilson (66).

The low scores in calm weather with the temperature near 80 degrees set up a probable shoot-out in the final round today.

“When the weather is this good here, you’ve got to make some birdies to keep the pace out there,” Leonard said. “I don’t think it’s a surprise at the scores and how low they are.”

If he holds on, Holmes would be the event’s youngest winner since Jerry Pate in 1977.

The stocky, muscular rookie, who finished first in the 2005 PGA Tour qualifying tournament, had seven tee shots that traveled at least 338 yards on fairways hardened by a record 108 days without rain. But his drives are a given. It was his short game that came through.

“I’ve got the putter working,” he said, “and if you get the putter working, you can make some birdies.”