Sunday, August 27, 2000
Woods still has a ‘sting’
Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio — Fourteen straight pars
and a wasp sting failed to stop Tiger Woods from running away
with the NEC Invitational on Saturday.
Woods finally cooled off at Firestone Country
Club after a birdie-eagle-birdie start. He got stung on his left
finger when he tried to remove a wounded wasp on the 15th green.
All that mattered at the end of the day was his 3-under 67, which
gave him a nine-stroke lead.
“It hurt quite a bit,” he said.
That was in reference to the sting, not a game that failed to
produce a birdie from the fourth hole on. Woods knew the size
of his lead at the time — 11 — and what it would take
to catch him — a lot.
Woods was at 18-under 192, a 54-hole record
at Firestone. Hal Sutton had a hole-in-one on the 12th hole and
nearly holed out on the 18th for a 65, the best score of the day.
He was at 201, along with Phillip Price and fast-fading Phil Mickelson.
Price, a Welshman playing his first tournament
in America, bogeyed the last hole for a 66. Mickelson finally
got Woods’ lead down to six strokes until he bogeyed the
17th with a flubbed chip and made double bogey on the 18th.
Reno-Tahoe Open
RENO, Nev. — Frenchman Jean Van de
Velde shot a 7-under-par 65 in windy conditions Saturday to take
a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Van de Velde, famous for squandering a three-stroke
lead on the final hole of the British Open last year at Carnoustie,
had a 13-under 203 total.
Brian Henninger, who matched the course
record with a 63 in the second round, shot a 71 for a 205 total.
Bob May, who lost a playoff to Tiger Woods last week in the PGA
championship, was another stroke back along with David Toms and
Doug Dunakey.
FleetBoston Classic
CONCORD, Mass. — Kermit Zarley shot
a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Larry
Nelson after the second round of the FleetBoston Classic.
Zarley, 58, seeking his second career Senior
PGA Tour victory, overcame a double bogey on the second hole with
birdies on three of the next four holes. He had an 8-under 136
total.
Oldsmobile Classic
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Karrie Webb,
with nothing left to prove, has her sights on LPGA Tour records.
The Australian star, already the No. 1 female
player in the world, continued her assault on the tour’s
record book Saturday, breaking her own mark for 54 holes in the
Oldsmobile Classic.
Webb, who matched the LPGA’s single-round
record Friday with an 11-under-par 61, followed that with a 66
for a 193 total on the Walnut Hills course.
Her 23-under total broke the record of 22
under that Webb set last year in the Australian Ladies Masters.
Cristie Kerr and Meg Mallon were tied for
second at 201, eight strokes behind Webb. Kerr shot a 65, and
Mallon, playing with Webb, had a 71.
And more records are almost certain to fall.
The LPGA record for 72 holes is 26-under
262, also by Webb in the 1999 Australian Ladies Masters.
“Hopefully, I can play solid tomorrow,”
said Webb, who has five tour victories this season, including
two majors. “I can take a shot at the record. But, I don’t
want to get too far ahead of myself. I don’t want to do anything
stupid.”
Lisa Walters set the Oldsmobile Classic
record of 23 under in 1998. Webb’s play has been so superior
that she has tied that with 18 holes left to play.
“It’s fun to see someone play
that well,” said Mallon, who applauded along with the fans
when Webb rolled in a 6-foot putt for birdie on the final hole.
Mallon, whose course-record of 10 under
in the first round on the 6,241-yard layout lasted only one day,
started the day three strokes behind Webb.
But not for long.
Webb, striking the ball as well as she ever
has, birdied three of the first four holes and was clearly on
her way. Only the fact that she bogeyed Nos. 5 and 15 kept Webb
from widening her lead any more than she did.
Perhaps the thing that made the bogey at
No. 5 noteworthy was that it was so unexpected. Her second shot
on the 511-yard hole landed in a slight divot and Webb couldn’t
pitch it out cleanly.
The ball landed 20 yards short of the green,
and her chip ran 30 feet past the hole.
“That was a little careless, a little
untiddy,” Webb said. “But I came right back with birdies
after both of my bogies today.”
Webb drove into a bunker on the right side
of the fairway on the 397-yard 15th. Her shot from the sand was
just short of the green. Webb chipped within 12 feet, but couldn’t
get the saving putt to fall.
Webb has held a final-round lead 20 times
and gone on to win 12 of those tournaments. She finished second
seven times and tied for seventh once.
Even Mallon, who has an impressive record
of comeback wins, conceded that this match was just about over.
“Yeah, I’ve had some runs, but
I can’t remember overcoming an eight-shot lead,” Mallon
said.
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