Agonizing putts leave Woods seven back
Tiger Woods displayed his full repertoire of near-miss reactions: the putter flip, the 360-degree spin with head to the sky, the drop to his knees, and head bowed with hands on knees.
His mammoth gallery settled on just one way to react: the loud moan.
That’s what happens when the host of the tournament has six birdie putts that stop less than a foot from the hole and two more that settle less than 2 feet away. Woods’ 69 Saturday at the AT&T National at Bethesda, Md., looks boring on the surface – 15 pars and two birdies – but the sights and sounds told the story of a round that was inches away from being something spectacular.
“I turned a 63 or 64 into a 69 very smoothly,” Woods said.
For Woods to win the inaugural version of his own PGA Tour event, he’ll have to stage the biggest final-day comeback of his pro career. He’s never won when trailing by more than five strokes after the third round, but he’s at 2 under for the tournament – seven shots behind leader Stuart Appleby
“It’s frustrating, it really is,” Woods said. “There’s no denying that. When you hit good putts and you think they are looking dead center, they kind of wander left or right, it is frustrating. And that’s the way it goes sometimes. You have to be patient, which I was all day. I’m still in the ballgame.”
Many groups behind the Woods hoopla, Stuart Appleby roller-coastered his way to a two-stroke lead. The Aussie, playing with a hairline crack in his driver, made five birdies and three bogeys in a 2-under round of 68 for a 201 total, putting him in position to win the event that bears the name of his good friend and neighbor in Orlando, Fla.
“I’m not concerned who honors an event or who titles an event or anything,” said Appleby, seeking his ninth tour victory and first of 2007. “Because winning, once you’ve won or had a drought, it feels great. And not winning feels a little shallow and empty. So if I could join all the good feelings in winning and with Tiger, his inaugural event – I’m sure I’ll let him know. He’ll be back at me, trust me. He’s got a quick tongue.”
Second-place K.J. Choi is two strokes off the lead. Choi trailed Appleby by five following a bogey at the 14th, but birdied the next three holes to shoot a 70 on a hot and humid afternoon at Congressional Country Club.
Steve Stricker shot a 67 and is three strokes behind Appleby. Mike Weir, who also carded 67, is four off the lead in fourth.
After a tough day putting in a round of 73 on Thursday, Woods weighted down his putting with lead tape and rebounded with a 66 on Friday. For the third round, the putter was on the tantalizing verge of brilliance: A 6-footer lipped out at No. 3; an 11-footer at No. 4 died right on the edge; and an 18-footer at No. 15 had Woods swearing out loud after it skirted the hole.
Woods’ frustration showed again at the 18th, when he had his only bogey of the day. He made two angry swipes with his club after driving his tee shot into the left rough.
His only birdies came at Nos. 1 and 16 – and the 20-footer at the first hole was his longest made putt of the day.
“He played fantastic tee-to-green and really seemed to putt well – and holed nothing,” said Woods’ playing partner, Kevin Stadler, who also shot a 69 and had a hole-in-one at the par-3 13th. “I’m sure he’ll be excited looking forward to tomorrow because if he had another inch it would have been 62, 63, or 64.”
U.S. Senior Open
Tom Watson knows all about playing in the wind, and he has five British Open titles to prove it.
When the flags finally started flapping at Whistling Straits at Haven, Wis., it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Watson stayed at the top of the U.S. Senior Open leaderboard.
The course that looks more like a potential British Open site than a slice of central Wisconsin found its signature windy “whistle,” and Watson handled it better than the players trying to chase him down.
“I’ve been pretty good at that over my career,” Watson said. “So, the conditions here were kind of like that today.”
On a day when only eight players scored under par, Watson shot a 1-over-par 73 to carry a three-shot lead into today’s final round. Watson is 7 under for the tournament, and his closest pursuer is Loren Roberts at 4 under. John Ross, Sam Torrance and Vicente Fernandez are tied at 3 under.
After relatively docile conditions through the first two rounds, players had to contend with winds that blew at an estimated 10-20 mph and got stronger throughout the day. Even harder winds are forecast for today’s final round – an advantage, perhaps, for Watson.
“We all know what he can do in the wind,” Roberts said. “He’s a great ball striker.”
But even Watson didn’t have it easy.
Watson frittered away his early lead, shooting 3 over on the front nine and dropping into a tie with Roberts. But Watson recovered on the back nine, and regained the three-shot lead he held going into the day when Roberts made a double-bogey on the par-3 17th.
“Even though I didn’t hit the ball very well, it was a very good round of golf,” Watson said.