Rory Sabbatini settled after an early double bogey to salvage a two-over 72 and build a one shot lead over Tiger Woods in the Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods dropped out of a share for the lead with a bogey from the trees on the final hole, but still managed a 69 and left himself a good chance to win for the third straight year.
"I tried to hang in there and not give any shots back," Woods said.
PHOTO: AP
Sabbatini was at four-under 206, the highest score for a 54-hole leader at Firestone since it became a WGC event in 1999.
Kenny Perry had a 71 and was the only other player under par at one-under 209.
Sabbatini and Woods verbally sparred this spring starting at the Wachovia Championship, where Woods rallied from one shot behind the spunky South African to win at Quail Hollow. Five days later, Sabbatini said he thought Woods looked "as beatable as ever."
Woods responded by mentioning he had three victories this year, as many as Sabbatini had in his career.
"He's trying to obviously think of ways to motivate himself," Woods said. "A lot of guys don't really externalize it. We all say things like that inside, and he's just trying to gain any kind of edge mentally when you're out there playing. He just verbalizes them."
Sabbatini didn't back down, saying he was 1-1 going against Woods in final rounds, the most recent coming at Quail Hollow.
Whether it becomes a two-man race remains to be seen, with ten players separated by five shots going into the final round.
Of the last three groups, Woods was the only player to break par. The other five players were 21 over par.
The best anyone could do was a 67, one of those belonging to Aaron Baddeley. That put him in a tie for fourth at one-over 211, a group that included Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan, who each had a 71; and Andres Romero, the 26-year-old from Argentina coming off his first European Tour victory last week in Germany.
"It's so firm right now, you look at some of these pins and you just start to laugh," Leonard said. "But it's supposed to rain tomorrow, soften up a little bit. And if that happens, we might see some better scores."
No one suffered quite like Masters champion Zach Johnson.
He was tied for the lead at five under par when his tee shot on the par-four ninth went right into deep rough. He tried to hack out to the fairway, but the ball shot across into the left rough. From there he went into a bunker, then over the green. His wedge slid under the ball, moving it only a few feet. The next chip didn't reach the green. Johnson had to make a 1m putt to escape with a quadruple-bogey eight.
Then he took double bogey on the next hole, and went from leading to five shots behind.
Flesch takes comfortable lead
AFP, RENO, Nevada
Steve Flesch stretched his lead to a comfortable five strokes on Saturday after the third round of the US$3.5 million Reno-Tahoe Open.
The 40-year-old American carded a three-under 69 for a 15-under 201, finishing with back-to-back birdies at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
Flesh, a three-time winner on the US tour, is trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the tour this year.
His lead is the largest 54-hole advantage of the season, but Flesch has reason to be cautious.
He has held the lead entering the final day at seven tournaments, and won just one of them, the 2004 Colonial, which was his last win.
Johansson extends his advantage
AFP, MOSCOW
Sweden's Per-Ulrik Johansson extended his lead to four shots at the US$2 million Russian Open at the Le Meridien Country Club on Saturday with a solid five-under third round performance.
The 40-year-old Swede carded a third round 67 for an 18-under total of 198, maintaining the lead he carved out with a 62 on Friday.
He produced three birdies before an ugly double bogey at the 18th on Saturday. But he recovered with two more birdies as well as an eagle.
"I am very pleased with today but it is going to be a tough day tomorrow, there are still a lot of guys there right behind me so I have to keep playing my game," said Johansson, whose last win on the tour came 10 years ago in the European Open in Ireland.
"I know it is a cliche but it is the only way to go in this game. The only blemish I had today was on the 18th, our ninth hole, where I hit it in the water to make double bogey six," he said. "I couldn't believe that I didn't carry the right side. But except for that hole, I played pretty much the way I did yesterday."
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
RSS