Wednesday, November
27, 2002
Woods takes lead,
continues dominance at Grand Slam
By JAYMES SONG
AP Sports Writer
POIPU BEACH, Hawaii
(AP) - Masters and U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods shot a 6-under-par
66 Tuesday to take a three-stroke lead over Justin Leonard in
the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
Davis Love III and
PGA Championship winner Rich Beem opened with a 72 in the 36-hole
event for the year's major champions.
With Woods winning
two majors and British Open champion Ernie Els withdrawing from
the event, Love and Leonard gained invitations based on their
finishes in the majors.
Woods, who is seeking
his fifth consecutive Grand Slam title, put pressure on his opponents
early en route to his bogey-free round. He made the turn at 31
to take a two-stroke lead over Leonard and Love.
Woods' front nine
included an eagle on the 524-yard No. 2 and birdies on Nos. 4,
6 and 7. He played remained steady on the back nine, and he added
a birdie on the 537-yard 14th hole.
On the eagle, Woods
blasted a 343-yard drive and hit an 8-iron within 25 feet of the
cup. He sank the putt, drawing a roar from the gallery.
Leonard drew within
a stroke of with a birdie on No. 11, but Woods got a stroke back
three holes later. Leonard then carded his first bogey on No.
17 by lipping a 3-foot putt.
In balmy and relatively
calm conditions at the 7,081-yard oceanside Poipu Bay Golf Course
on the island of Kauai, Davis had three birdies on the front nine.
But he ran into trouble on the backside, bogeying four times,
including three of the final four holes.
Beem opened his round
with a birdie on the 428-yard, par-3 first hole, but lost a stroke
on the 209-yard third after his approach shot landed in the right
bunker. He parred the next 10 holes, added a birdie on No. 14
and a bogey on No. 16.
While Love, Leonard
and Woods went with their traditional golf attire, Beem went Hawaiian
style _ to the extreme.
He wore golf shoes
with a hula dancer airbrushed on one side and palm trees on the
other. It complemented his untucked floral aloha shirt and his
driver head painted in a colorful Hawaiian print.
But it was Woods
who caught the crowd's attention by continuing his dominance.
Woods this season
became the first player to win both the PGA Player of the Year
and Vardon Trophy honors for the fourth straight year. He also
topped the money list for the fourth straight year with $6,912,625
on the PGA Tour.
Woods won last year's
Grand Slam by finishing with a record 12-under 132 total for a
three-stroke victory over David Toms.
The winner will receive
$400,000 from the $1 million purse.
Divots:@ After TNT
commentator and former NBA star Charles Barkley questioned Woods'
listed height of 6-foot-2, Woods responded by saying, "Every
program said you were 6-6. You're no more than 6-4 on a good day."
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