Friday, December 1, 2000
Woods hits rare OB, but stays
close to lead
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Tiger
Woods was trying to remember when he last hit out of bounds. It's
been a while.
Despite his errant shot and ensuing bogey
on the second hole, Woods shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to remain
just off the pace in the Williams World Challenge. Leader Sergio
Garcia and Davis Love III also had course-record 64s at Sherwood
Country Club, leaving Garcia two shots ahead of Love and three
in front of tournament host Woods.
Woods, who said, “I hit this one way
out, into some guy's back yard,” at first had difficulty
recalling the last time he hit out of bounds, then decided it
was in 1999.
Reminded that he hit one into the ocean
in Hawaii since then, Woods grinned and said, “That was different.
That was a hazard. A very big hazard. The biggest hazard.”
His out-of-bounds Friday was merely a momentary
setback for Woods, who came back to shoot a 5-under 31 on the
back side.
Garcia, whose opening round of 65 lasted
as the course record for just 24 hours, could hardly believe that
he and his two close challengers all were playing so well.
“I was watching the leaderboard and
they were just making birdie after birdie after birdie and I had
to do the same thing,” said Garcia, who was at 15-under 129
midway through the tournament.
“If I have to shoot a 62 or 63 to win,
I'll try. But I'd rather know that I could shoot two 66s.”
Woods lipped out three putts, including
a 6-footer for eagle on No. 16 when the lower half of the ball
seemed to disappear in the cup, only to have the ball spin out.
“If I had made a couple more putts,
I would really have had it going,” said Woods, who had five
putts go in-and-out of the cup the first day.
Love had an extremely steady day, with a
bogey-free round that included four birdies on the front nine
and four more on the back.
“I'm getting a little confidence in
my putter,” Love said. “I took a few weeks off and feel
really relaxed now, and this is a fun tournament.”
Garcia began the second round with three
consecutive birdies, and finished with seven birdies, an eagle
and a bogey.
The 20-year-old Spanish star again was extremely
accurate with his irons, and also had some luck. On the par-3,
166-yard 16th hole, a car horn somewhere in the distance distracted
him on his backswing and he pushed the ball 20 yards to the right
of the green.
But the ball hit a rock on the steep slope
and bounced at a 90-degree angle, stopping 6 feet from the cup
as Garcia grinned and twisted his torso as if he had put body
English on the ball.
He birdied four of his first five holes
— giving him eight birdies in 10 holes going back to No.
14 on the first day — and made the turn at 31.
Garcia went on to sink a 45-foot putt for
eagle on the par-5, 541-yard No. 13.
Woods had an eagle on No. 11, where he made
an 18-foot putt, and he also chipped in from 15 feet for birdie
on No. 13.
Although Sherwood yielded extremely low
scores to the trio at the top, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course,
a stately oak- and sycamore-lined layout in the foothills of the
Santa Monica Mountains, was not easy for the other players.
There was an 8-shot gap back to fourth place
behind Woods, and five of the 12 players in the select field failed
to break par through the first 36 holes.
“This course is not easy, but the fairways
are running now and the greens are soft and receptive,” Woods
said. “You can go at the flag with every shot, and the ball
stops right there.”
Vijay Singh, one shot behind Garcia beginning
the second round, birdied No. 1 to begin the second day, then
fell apart on the next three holes, losing five shots to par.
He struggled to consecutive double-bogeys on the second and third
hole, then bogeyed No. 4 to abruptly go to 2 under and fall eight
shots behind Garcia.
Singh, the Masters champion, finished with
a 76 and was at 142 — 13 shots off the lead — through
36 holes.
Tom Lehman, who won the inaugural Williams
World Challenge last January in Scottsdale, Ariz., had his second
consecutive 70, and Fred Couples had a 72 to tie for fourth at
140.
Mark O'Meara was at 143, with Jesper Parnevik
at 144, followed by David Duval at 145, Hal Sutton and Justin
Leonard at 147, and Stewart Cink at 149.
The $3.5 million, 72-hole tournament has
a $1 million winner's purse and rewards even the last-place finisher
with a $120,000 check. The event benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation,
and Woods will donate his prize money to the foundation.
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
