Woods works himself back into contention
By DOUG FERGUSON / AP Sports Writer
TROON, Scotland (AP) - Jesper Parnevik took advantage of another
calm day at Royal Troon and a surprising collapse by Darren Clarke,
shooting a 5-under-par 66 to take the lead after the third round
of the British Open today.
Parnevik holed a 15-foot putt for birdie on 16, then took the
lead with a 4-foot birdie on the 223-yard 17th hole. He was at
11-under 202, two strokes ahead of Clarke. Fred Couples shot a
70 and was five strokes back.
Clarke looked like he might run away from the field - and take
some of the luster off Tiger Woods' course record-tying 64 - when
he was nearly perfect on the front nine with four birdies for
a 32.
That put him at 13 under for the tournament, four strokes ahead
of Parnevik. But after a two-putt par on No. 10, Clarke started
slipping back to the pack.
He missed seven straight greens until No. 18, and despite saving
bogey twice with smart decisions, standing over one par-saving
putt after another began to take its toll.
He went around in even-par 71 - 39 on the back - and goes into
Sunday's final round two strokes back of Parnevik at 204. Woods
is at 210, eight strokes behind.
Parnevik, who wasted a chance to win the 1994 British Open
at Turnberry by making bogey at the 72nd hole when all he needed
was a par, made three birdies on the difficult closing nine.
Clarke showed just how difficult the back stretch can be, even
with only a mild sea breeze coming in off the Firth of Clyde.
He took his first bogey of the round by driving into the gorse
on No. 11, then ran into problems again when his approach into
the par-4 13th went behind the scoreboard into rough so thick
he could barely find his ball.
He took a penalty drop, then saved bogey with a 10-foot putt.
Clarke also made another huge putt, this one for par, on the next
hole. But he lost the lead with a bogey at No. 15, then three-putted
the 18th for his fourth bogey over an eight-hole stretch.
Couples got into the thick of it by holing a short iron for
eagle on the 11th. But he missed the 17th green and took his first
bogey in 42 holes and wound up with a 70.
Justin Leonard, who started the third round two strokes behind
Clarke, made only pars for 10 holes, then began to fade. He shot
a 1-over 72 and was tied with Couples at 207.
Clarke's inability to hold course brought Woods back into the
picture.
Starting the day 13 strokes off the lead, Woods' 64 tied the
record at Royal Troon, set by Greg Norman in 1989.
Woods saved his round on the 11th hole, where he once again
tried to play out from rough surrounded by the prickly gorse bushes
and was still 71 yards out after three shots.
But unlike the triple-bogey 7 he had Thursday on No. 11, and
the quadruple-bogey 8 he had on the 10th hole Friday from the
gorse, he walked away with only a bogey by hitting to within 4
feet and making the putt.
"Things like that keep rounds going," Woods said.
Indeed. He birdied the 12th to get back the stroke, then became
the first player to make eagle on the par-5 16th, a 542-yard hole
into a steady breeze that Woods reached in two, holing a 12-foot
putt.
And when it looked like he was in trouble again at the par-3
17th, Woods played a perfect bump shot into the slope guarding
the green, the ball rolling into the cup for an improbable birdie.
Woods saved par from a pot bunker, making a 10-footer on the 18th
for his 64.
Woods, 13 strokes back to start the round, had said Friday
he still thought he had a chance to win.
"I figured if I eliminated the bad holes and putted better,
then I'd be OK," he said today.
His 64 took shape on the front, where he birdied three of the
first four holes. One of those was a 30-foot putt up a ridge on
No. 2, where Woods began striding confidently to the hole as the
putt was still 5 feet away from falling.
He had to settle for birdie at both par 5s on the front, but
picked up another birdie on No. 7 when his slicing drive bounced
off a 5-year-old girl's head and ricocheted back toward the right
rough. He hit a high, spinning sand wedge that rolled to within
10 feet for birdie.
Some early scores reflected another perfect day for scoring
- unseasonably warm temperatures and bright skies. Some fans had
their shirts off, and a number of sailboats on the Firth of Clyde
drew near to the shore.
And for a while, Clarke was taking full advantage. But he had
never been in contention on the weekend for a major championship,
and the back nine at Royal Troon is difficult even without a strong
wind.
Jim Furyk, who shared the first-round lead with Clarke, shot
a 70 and was at 209 with Eduardo Romero and England's Stephen
Ames.
Joining Woods at 210 were Australia's Robert Allenby and England's
Lee Westwood. Tom Watson was at 211, while Norman was another
stroke back.
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