Sean O'’Hair emerged with a five-stroke lead over fellow American Tiger Woods after an error-strewn end to the third round on Saturday at the US PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The difficult closing stretch took its toll as O'Hair bogeyed three of the final four holes in gusty winds at Bay Hill.
But Woods also had his problems, dropping two shots late, including a bogey at the par-four 18th, where he lost a ball.
When the dust settled, O’Hair carded 71 for a seven-under-par 203 total, while Woods also carded 71 to be alone in second place on two-under going into yesterday's final round.
Jason Gore four-putted the last to fall into a tie for third on one-under with fellow American Zach Johnson and Japan's Ryuji Imada.
Woods'second shot at the 18th finished in deep rough just inside a hazard short of the green, but he could not locate his ball within the allowed five minutes.
The defending champion had no choice but to go back to the other side of the pond, from where he fired his fourth shot to 25 feet and sank his longest putt of the week to keep the damage to one stroke.
■ANDALUCIA OPEN
AFP, SEVILLE, SPAIN
Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen holed seven straight birdies to come back from five strokes behind the pace to lead after the third round of the Andalucian Open on Saturday.
Kjeldsen carded a 10-under par 62 to break the course record by one and shaved a stroke off his lowest ever score on The European Tour, giving him a 14-under par aggregate of 202. It also took him from five behind at halfway into a one-stroke lead over Scotland’s David Drysdale.
Last November's Volvo Masters champion grabbed seven birdies in a row, only one short of The Tour record, and then three holes later made a 45 foot eagle putt on the lengthy 16th to reach 14 under par.
■PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL
AFP, PHOENIX, ARIZONA
South Korean rookie Shin Jiyai, fresh off her first LPGA triumph three weeks ago, fired a six-under par 66 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead after round three of the Phoenix International.
Shin captured her first LPGA crown on March 8 at Singapore and put herself in position to win again in Phoeniz, standing on 10-under 206 after 54 holes.
One stroke off the pace thanks to birdies at 18 as well were Australian star Karrie Webb and South Korean Kim In-kyung, with Norway’s Suzann Pettersen fourth on 208, one stroke ahead of Korean Ji Eun Hee and two atop Brittany Lang of the US.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was in a three-way tie for sixth at 211.
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