Bradley leads Doral with Tiger in the hunt
By RON SIRAK AP Golf Writer
MIAMI (AP) -- Leave it to Tiger Woods to get the focus back
on golf.
After two months of playing second fiddle to El Nino and Casey
Martin, Woods reminded everyone what all the fuss of Tigermania
was about when he closed Saturday's third round of the Doral-Ryder
Open with a sensational shot from a fairway bunker to be three
strokes behind leader Michael Bradley.
On a gusty day when he was betrayed by an erratic putter, Woods
once again showed his flair for the dramatic when he nearly holed
a choked-down 148-yard 7-iron from a lie below his feet in a fairway
bunker on the last hole for a tap-in birdie for a 71 in the third
round.
"How about that one?" Woods said with a huge smile
after the ball nearly went in on the fly. "Oh man, you've
got to love it."
And you'd have to love Woods' chances in Sunday's final round.
He is playing the most consistent golf of his pro career despite
not having a victory since last July.
Woods has two second-place finishes and a third on the PGA
Tour this year and a victory in Thailand. In those four tournaments
he has finished with closing rounds of 64, 65, 66 and 68.
"That's what he lives for," Butch Harmon, Woods'
coach, said. "He loves to play under Sunday pressure."
After an opening to the season when there was more attention
on the El Nino storms that made a mess of the West Coast swing
and on Martin's suit against the PGA Tour to use a cart, Woods
sent a strong reminder of how exciting he is to watch.
Bradley, meanwhile, battled a bad back and the swirling wind
to create some drama of his own, shooting a 70 to be at 9-under-par
207, two strokes better than Stewart Cink, despite a back that
may require surgery.
Mike Brisky, Woods and Billy Mayfair, who beat Woods in a playoff
last week, were at 210. Another five players, including Vijay
Singh, were at 211.
If not for his putter, Woods would have had the lead.
He had an 18-footer for eagle on the first hole and three-putted,
missing from 3-1/2 feet. He also missed birdie tries under 10
feet on Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 17.
"I had a lot of makeable putts," Woods said. "I
just didn't make them. I was stroking it all right but I wasn't
reading them right."
Bradley, who has started an exercise program to try to avoid
surgery on a herniated disk, played the last six holes 2-under
par on the difficult wind-blown back nine.
"If the conditions are like this tomorrow, even par will
be a really good score," Bradley said. "I'm just going
to go out there and rock 'n' roll for 18 holes."
Bradley also closed with a great shot, hitting a punch 7-iron
from 152 yards to 8 feet to get his birdie on No. 18.
Cink had a chance to share the lead but bogeyed the final hole
for a 71.
Cink and Bradley played steady but not spectacular golf. The
way the wind was blowing at the Doral Resort -- gusting to 25
mph -- that was exactly what was needed.
"That wind is whipping pretty good, boys," Mayfair
said after finishing with a 68 to get to 210 even before the final
group started the back nine. "I'm glad I'm in."
Mayfair knew what he had to do and got the job done, playing
the final three holes into the wind at 2-under par.
"When I woke up this morning and saw the wind was blowing
I just wanted to put up a good score and see what the leaders
do," he said. "I did exactly what I wanted to do."
Mayfair had a perfect example of the impact of the wind. On
the 529-yard downwind first hole he had only a 156-yard 9-iron
for his second shot. On the 443-yard 18th, playing into the wind,
he had a 212-yard 2-iron for his second shot.
Jim Furyk, who needed only 24 putts on Friday when he shot
a 62, missed a 5-footer on the first hole, a 3-footer on No. 13
and a 5-footer on the 17th hole. He was at 212 along with Scott
Hoch and 55-year-old Raymond Floyd.
Woods was off to get ready for Sunday, the day he lives for.
"I'm off to the practice green," he said.
Bradley, meanwhile, was off to rest a back that can take no
more practice.
Divots: Nick Faldo continues to putt miserably, a slump on
the greens that started in the 1996 British Open at Royal Lytham.
Saturday at Doral he four-putted the fourth green from 20 feet,
missing consecutive 2-foot putts on the low side of the hole.
... Paul Azinger looks more and more every week like he's ready
for his first victory since undergoing cancer treatments in 1993-94.
He shot a 69 in the third round and was at 3-under-par 213. His
last victory was the 1993 PGA Championship. ... Seve Ballesteros,
who was to play in the Honda Classic next week and at Bay Hill
the week after, pulled out of those events when the PGA Tour didn't
extend him an invitation to the Players Championship because he
is not ranked among the top 50 in the world. ... Jack Nicklaus,
who played in the first Doral Open in 1962, was at even-par 216.
|
