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| November 24, 2002 | Sunday | Ramazan 18, 1423 |
Missed-putts prove costly for Tiger
MIYAZAKI (Japan), Nov 23: Missed putts again proved costly for world number one Tiger Woods, who shot a two-under-par 69 Saturday to trail Kaname Yokoo by eight strokes after three rounds of the $1.65 million Dunlop Phoenix tournament.
U.S.-based Japanese Yokoo clung to his overnight lead with a 69 to move to 13-under-par 200, one shot ahead of Britain’s European Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke, who made two eagles in an inspired round of 65 at the par-71 Phoenix Country Club in Miyazaki.
Spanish Ryder Cup team mate Sergio Garcia fired a 69 to finish the day in fourth on 204, while Briton Justin Rose carded a 70 to reach the clubhouse tied for fifth with defending champion David Duval on eight-under-par.
Surprise package Zaw Moe of Myanmar closed with four successive birdies in a 68 and finds himself in third place on 203.
Woods, who carded 71 and 68 over the first two days, had enough opportunities to grab the outright lead himself but the American missed a handful of makeable birdie putts and short eagle putts on the seventh and 18th holes.
He also had a two-foot par putt on the 10th lip out and, to add insult to injury, Woods and playing partners Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell received an official warning for slow play.
Woods quickly made up for that bogey with a birdie on the 11th but suffered another setback with an unlucky break on the par-four 13th.
The 26-year-old drove the 332-yard hole in one on Friday but this time his tee shot got lodged behind a tree and he could only chip out sideways, eventually resulting in another bogey.
The Masters and U.S. Open champion produced one of the shots of the day on the 18th where he drilled a six-iron from 214 yards to within five feet to set up an eagle chance that would have improved his mood going into the final round.
However, that putt also dribbled past the hole to the obvious disgust of Woods, who was still grumbling to himself as he left the final green tied for 10th with South Korean Kim Jong-duck.
In contrast, almost everything went right for Clarke, who chipped in from 154 yards for an eagle on the par-four fifth and sank a 20-foot eagle putt on the 18th to tie briefly with Yokoo.
But the Japanese golfer, who played in the U.S. this year but lost his tour card for 2003, made a birdie at the last to ensure he went into the final day with a one-stroke lead.
Garcia, meanwhile, three-putted twice but carded four birdies in a 69, including a remarkable two on the par-three 17th, where he sank a 40-foot bump-and-run shot from the left rough that owed much to a sudden flash of inspiration.
Former European number one Westwood had seven bogeys in a 74 that him tied 32nd on even-par 213. Bjorn fired a 72 to finish the day at one-under-par.
Leading third round scores (Japanese unless stated):
200 Kaname Yokoo 66 65 69
201 Darren Clarke (Britain) 64 72 65
203 Zaw Moe (Myanmar) 68 67 68
204 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 67 68 69
205 Justin Rose (Britain) 66 69 70, David Duval (U.S.) 69 69 67
206 Tsukasa Watanabe 66 70 70
207 Choi Kyung-ju (South Korea) 72 69 66, Hiroyuki Fujita 68 68 71
208 Tiger Woods (U.S.) 71 68 69, Kim Jong-duck (South Korea) 68 70 70
209 Hidemichi Tanaka 70 72 67, Hirofumi Miyase 67 71 71, Ho Suk-ho (South Korea) 67 71 71, Katsuyoshi Tomori 71 70 68, Dean Wilson (U.S.)
210 Yasuharu Imano 70 69 71, Graeme McDowell (Britain) 69 71 70, Shigeru Nonaka 69 72 69, Taichi Teshima 72 68 70, Nobuhito Sato 70 68 72
BEEM SHARES LEAD
MELBOURNE: U.S. PGA champion Rich Beem managed to keep the flies off his face long enough to claim a share of the lead with a second round of six-under-par 64 at the Australian Open Saturday.
The 32-year-old American has a score of 10-under-par 130 alongside Australia’s Steve Allan in the 54-hole tournament.
Beem has confessed to a liking for Melbourne beer, although another local custom, the Aussie salute, awaited him on the course this week in the warm conditions.
Beem spent the early part of this week recovering from jetlag and adjusting to the rock-hard greens of Melbourne’s Victoria Golf Club, which were deemed unplayable halfway through Thursday’s first round.
Leading second round scores (players Australian unless stated):
130 Rich Beem (U.S.) 66 64, Steve Allan 66 64
131 Charles Howell III (U.S.) 65 66, Craig Parry 66 65
132 Gavin Coles 68 64
133 Adam Scott 69 64
134 Aaron Baddeley 70 64
135 Jason King 70 65, Adam Crawford 67 68, Wayne Grady 67 68, Stuart Appleby 67 68
136 Robert Allenby 71 65, Geoff Ogilvy 66 70, Andrew Tschudin 68 68, Peter O’Malley 71 65.—Reuters
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