Friday, May 18, 2001
Campbell shoots 62; Woods seven
back
By ROY KAMMERER
Associated Press Writer
HEIDELBERG, Germany (AP) — New Zealand's
Michael Campbell took the spotlight from Tiger Woods on Thursday,
shooting a 10-under 62 in the rain-plagued Deutsche Bank-SAP Open.
Woods, the 1999 winner making his third
straight appearance in the event, opened with a 69 in the tournament
that was delayed by rain for seven hours. More than half of the
players were unable to finish the round on the St. Leon-Rot course.
“It was a great round, but I'm only
seven shots in front of Tiger — that's not much with three
rounds to play,” said Campbell, who won the tour's Heinekin
Classic in Australia in February.
Campbell's bogey-free round was three strokes
better than the course record of 65 set two years ago by Nick
Price, but does not count as a record because players were allowed
to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairways because of
the soggy conditions.
Woods bogeyed the first hole, sending spectators
lining the fairway scrambling with an errant 2-iron tee shot.
Just before that, he backed away, disturbed by a shout from the
spectators.
“I didn't play all that great, but
I played good enough to get myself in the ballgame,” said
Woods, who reportedly received a $2 million appearance fee to
play.
He had four birdies on two bogeys on his
first nine, and managed just one birdie on the final nine holes.
“The putts I did hit well didn't go
in and the ones I hit poorly didn't have a chance,” said
Woods, who let a third-round lead slip away last year at Gut Kaden
in Hamburg en route to a third-place finish.
Campbell had a four-stroke lead over two-time
U.S. Open champion Ernie Els of South Africa, defending champion
Lee Westwood of England, Lucas Parsons of Australia and Eduardo
Romero of Argentina.
Campbell missed the cut last week in the
Benson and Henson International in England after catching the
flu from his son.
“Last week I had achy joints and bones
— so that was a big difference. For three days two weeks
ago, I was sick in bed and could hardly move,” Campbell said.
Els eagled the par-5 10th hole, hitting
a 3-wood approach shot to 4 feet, but missed two birdie putts
within 8 feet.
“I'm very pleased with my round, but
I had a lot of chances, it could have been a little bit better,”
Els said.
Scotland's Andrew Coltart, Australia's Richard
Green and Englishmen Greg Owen and Paul Eales opened with 68s.
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie shot a 70, and Northern Ireland's
Darren Clarke was 14 strokes back after a 76.
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