A cautious Tiger Woods saw his lead trimmed to two strokes after Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship, but remained the player to beat as he chased a 15th career major crown.
Woods, who began the day with a four-stroke edge, carded a one-under 71 to stand on eight-under 208 through 54 holes, while defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland and South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun shared second on 210.
“The narrower the gap the better,” Harrington said. “To get a win you have got to beat him by three tomorrow. That’s a tall order, but everybody who is behind is going to think we have nothing to lose.”
PHOTO: AFP
World No. 1 Woods, four shy of the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, has never lost a major when leading after 54 holes. Overall, Woods has 47 wins in 50 events when at least tied for the lead after 54 holes.
“I’ve played well to get myself in those positions and am fortunate to have won most of those events,” Woods said. “You have to go out there and compete. That’s what’s so much fun about it.”
Woods, who missed an eight-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, was careful to avoid a costly mistake in breezy conditions at Hazeltine, the longest course in major golf history.
“I just felt with my lead I would err on the side of caution most of the time,” Woods said. “I was pretty consistent all day. Given the conditions and my position in the tournament, I didn’t mind it.”
Hazeltine has thwarted Woods before. He birdied the last four holes here at the 2002 PGA Championship, but lost by a stroke to US journeyman Rich Beem.
Yang, who has a chance to become Asia’s first major champion, matched Woods for the week’s low round with a 67. Harrington had a 69, a bogey at the 18th dropping him two off the pace and put Yang into the last pairing with Woods.
US Open champion Lucas Glover and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson share fourth on 212, one stroke ahead of South African Ernie Els and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen.
QUEEN’S CUP
AFP, SAMUI, Thailand
Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil triumphed in the Queen’s Cup yesterday with a three-shot victory for his third Asian Tour title.
Still only 20, the power-packed Chinnarat reinforced his credentials as the future king of Asian golf with a superb four-under 67 in the final round at the Santiburi Samui Country Club for a 16-under 268.
Chinnarat’s three birdies over his closing five holes pushed Japan’s Yoshinobu Tsukada (71), Kim Dae-hyun of South Korea (68) and Udorn Duangdecha of Thailand (67) into joint second place.
South Africa’s Keith Horne and Thammanoon Srirot of Thailand finished joint fifth.
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