Some moving day at the Masters - Tiger expands
lead to nine
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Sports Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - The only thing more alarming than how Tiger
Woods ran away from the field in the third round of the Masters
was how the field ran away from him.
And not just any field.
If the 21-year-old Woods had even bothered to look over his
shoulder when he teed off Saturday, he could have found the owners
of a combined 16 major championships.
There were former Masters champions Jose Maria Olazabal and
Fred Couples, long hitters like former U.S. Open champion Ernie
Els, hard chargers like Tom Watson and Nick Price, who is capable
of getting a hot putter going.
There were also two guys dubbed the best players without a
major - Davis Love III and Colin Montgomerie - who will keep that
tag for a little longer.
"I told my pop that somebody was going to make a run,
shoot a 66 at the worst," Woods said.
And someone did - Woods.
His 7-under-par 65 was the best round of the tournament and
gave him a record nine-stroke lead going into the final round.
"I'm very surprised no one really made a run," said
Woods, the only one without a bogey on his card.
They all ran into trouble, instead.
"Everybody was trying to birdie every hole to try to catch
up to him," said Love, who started the day seven strokes
back, shot 72 and is now 14 strokes behind. "That's a difficult
way to play."
Olazabal birdied the second hole to get to 4 under, then three-putted
for bogey on No. 3 and couldn't save par from the sand on the
next hole. He finished with a 74.
Fred Couples missed a 2-foot par putt on the third hole, then
really ran into problems on the 10th hole. He had to take a drop
after driving into an azalea bush and wound up with a double bogey.
He shot 73.
Els played the par 5s on the back nine in 1 over and shot 71.
Price shot a 75, former PGA champion Paul Azinger a 77.
Costantino Rocca, who will be paired with Woods on Sunday,
made six birdies and an eagle - as well as four bogeys and a double
bogey.
Woods just sailed along, never leading by fewer than eight
strokes after making a two-putt birdie on the eighth hole.
"My goal today was never to make bogey, and I accomplished
that," Woods said. "When you have a lead, in order for
someone to pass you, first they have to play well to catch up.
But if you open the door, there went an opportunity. And my goal
is to never give them an opportunity.
"I played pretty good golf."
Paul Stankowski bogeyed two of the first four holes, but recovered
to shoot a 3-under 69.
"Everytime I looked up it was like, 'Oh, he made another
birdie. Oh, he made another birdie,' " Stankowski said. "Tomorrow,
there's no chance unless I shoot 57. If I start thinking about
catching him, I'll probably go the other way."
That's exactly what happened Saturday, setting up another seemingly
insurmountable lead at Augusta National.
Last year it Greg Norman leading Nick Faldo by six strokes.
Then Norman's swing fell apart and he shot a 78, while Faldo shot
a 67 to win by five.
But Woods won't have a master tactician like Faldo chasing
him, and there's been no trace of any flaw in his swing.
"I appreciated that he hits the ball long," Montgomerie
said. "What I did not appreciate is how he putted. And when
you add it all together, he's nine shots clear. And I'm sure that
will be higher tomorrow."
Watson, slowed by bogeys on No. 2 and No. 10 in his round of
69 that left him at 4-under 212, was asked if anyone could catch
Woods.
"No," he said flatly. "We're talking about something
different, a nine-shot lead. He can make nine bogeys tomorrow
and still be in position to win the tournament."
Tom Kite, whose 66 tied him with Watson, was a little more
optimistic.
"We're going to have to play some good golf and get a
little help - a lot of help - from Tiger," he said.
That's what they needed Saturday - good golf and help from
Tiger - and they didn't get either one.
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