Els struggles, but holds Buick Open lead; Tiger
seven back
Associated Press
GRAND BLANC, Mich. - The best Ernie Els could do at windswept
Warwick Hills Country Club on Saturday was even-par 72, but that
was good enough for a three-stroke lead at 203 heading into the
final round of the Buick Open.
Curtis Strange, Larry Mize and Brad Fabel were tied for second
at 206. Strange shot 68, Mize 69 and Fabel 70 in Saturday's third
round.
Vijay Singh shot 67 and Tom Pernice had 68; each tied at 207.
Els, who could do no wrong while building a four-stroke lead
during the second round, struggled in the third round. He took
a big step backward with a double-bogey at the par-4 second hole.
Two birdies and a bogey later, he made the turn in 37.
Els almost pitched in for eagle on No. 13 for the second straight
day, but his shot from a greenside bunker hit the pin and rolled
three feet past the hole. That birdie finally got him back to
13-under, exactly where he was at the start of the round.
A thunderstorm rolled across the area at 5:15 p.m., just as
Els was teeing off on No. 15. He hooked his drive into the rough,
on the upslope of a fairway bunker, and play was suspended moments
later.
The delay lasted only 30 minutes, but the struggle continued
for Els who lipped out a three-foot putt for bogey at the 15th.
That dropped him back to 12-under and into a tie with Mize.
Undaunted, Els birdied the next two holes and appeared firmly
back in charge. But a bogey at the final hole forced him to settle
for 72 - and a shaky lead.
Mize, starting at 7-under, launched a solid, steady round with
a birdie on the first hole. He birdied No. 7 to turn in 34. Mize
started the back side with birdies on three of the first four
holes. He birdied No. 16 to get to 12-under, tied with Els at
that point.
But Mize ran into trouble on the final hole. He double-bogeyed
for 69 and fell into a tie with Strange at 206.
On the 18th, Mize drove into a bunker, pitched out to the beaten
down grass of the fairway crosswalk, skulled a shot into the back
fairway bunker, pitched out to the fringe, and two-putted.
"Actually, I made two good putts just to save 6,"
Mize said.
Mize, the 1987 Masters champion, won the Buick Open in 1993.
But he hasn't won anything on the PGA Tour since then.
Fabel, who has never won a Tour event, looked hoplessly out
of it when he turned at 37. But he ran off birdies on Nos. 11-13,
then added a birdie at No. 17 for his 70.
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