Saturday, July 22, 2000
'Circus' leaving town for Duval
and others in British Open
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) - David Duval
was almost giddy at the prospect. A showdown on the Old Course,
a shootout in the British Open.
He and Tiger Woods would finally play together
in the last group, with the oldest major championship on the line,
on the world's most historic course.
"It will be a circus," Duval said.
Problem was, the circus was already leaving
town. Even as Duval was speaking, Woods was out on the course
making two more birdies for a lead that would eventually stretch
to six shots.
Duval did get his wish - a final-round pairing
with Woods - after shooting a 66 Saturday. But it came at a price,
with a six-shot handicap against the best player in the world.
If that wasn't enough to depress Duval,
imagine what that did to the other guys chasing Woods.
Ernie Els wasn't even talking after hitting
it into the bushes on No. 12 and finishing Saturday's third round
eight back.
Sergio Garcia, the last one to challenge
Woods in a major championship at last year's PGA, was within three
shots of Woods at one point, but faltered on the way in with a
double bogey on the Road Hole and finished the third round 10
shots back.
"Of course it's gone," Garcia
said of his chance to win. "I still have a chance of maybe
finishing second."
Thomas Bjorn dismissed his chances, too,
even though he was tied with Duval at 10 under.
"There's no doubt that we're playing
for second place," Bjorn said.
Duval wasn't so sure, even though the longer
he stood holding the microphone in the interview tent, the more
Woods went ahead.
Duval, ranked No. 2 in the world, will be
in the final group with Woods for the first time in his career,
something most in golf figured would have happened a long time
ago. It didn't, mostly because Duval struggled with his game while
Woods took his to historic heights.
At least Duval will have a front-row seat
to history, if nothing else.
"You get to look him in the eye,"
Duval said. "I wanted to make sure I gave myself the best
chance to get there."
He got there only after escaping potential
disaster on the 18th, where his tee shot was headed out of bounds
but got a good kick and stayed in. Duval took advantage and made
birdie to move to 10 under.
"I've had a lot of good breaks for
a stretch of a couple of years where I won a lot of golf tournaments.
I feel like those breaks have not been there for me lately,"
Duval said. "It's nice to see that again. It really helps."
Duval's move into the final pairing might
have been the surprise of the day.
A day earlier, he was gingerly picking his
ball out of the hole and trying to protect a sprained back that
was causing him pain on the course. On doctor's advice, he skipped
his usual weightlifting sessions and got through Saturday's round
without any discomfort.
The pain might have come later when he looked
up to see Woods shaking off a rare mistake early and making five
birdies in a seven-hole stretch to double the lead he had after
two rounds.
Still, Duval couldn't help feeling good
about things, though Woods would have to have the worst collapse
in British Open history to lose.
"I'm going to be trying to win my first
major championship and he's going to be trying to complete a Grand
Slam," Duval said. "There's going to be pressure on
both parties."
Even Woods seemed to fancy the idea.
"I know the public has always been
wanting to have one and two playing each other in the final round
of a major," Woods said. "Tomorrow we have that opportunity."
For a time Saturday, it looked as if there
would be a lot more opportunities.
Nine players started the day within five
shots of the lead, and they didn't exactly fold, with eight of
them shooting par or better. It's just that Woods was even better.
"I look at the board and I'm just getting
lapped," Tom Lehman said. "It's just no fun."
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