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| June 10, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1424 |
Sabbatini maintains one-stroke lead
POTOMAC (Maryland), June 9: South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini hung on to a slender one-shot lead when he fired a three-under-par 68 in the rain-delayed third round of the $4.5 million Capital Open on Sunday.
Heading into Monday’s final round, Sabbatini was on 11-under 202, one ahead of Sweden’s Niclas Fasth (67). Duffy Waldorf moved into third place on 205 following a 66.
US PGA champion Rich Beem, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, Fred Funk, Chris DiMarco, JL Lewis and Tom Gillis were all on 206.
Fasth, seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, made his charge with a birdie hat trick from the second hole. He then grabbed the lead with another birdie at the 10th.
But the 31-year-old Swede dropped back when he bogeyed the par-five 13th while Sabbatini, playing one hole behind, birdied the 12th.
With additional birdies on the 14th and 16th, Sabbatini increased his lead to two shots before missing a short par putt on the final hole.
Fasth, second in the 2001 British Open behind David Duval, was deadly accurate for much of the day with his irons, hitting the first 12 greens in regulation and 16 of 18 overall.
Despite having won only once on the European Tour, at the 2000 Madeira Island Open, Fasth maintains a confident air on the course.
Sabbatini has one victory on the PGA Tour, at the 2000 Air Canada Championship.
Leading third round scores (US unless stated):
202 — Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 68, 66, 68.
203 — Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 68, 68, 67.
205 — Duffy Waldorf 71, 68, 66.
206 — Fred Funk 70, 70, 66; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 70, 70, 66; Chris DiMarco 71, 68, 67; J.L. Lewis 71, 67, 68; Rich Beem 67, 70, 69; Tom Gillis 68, 68, 70.
207 — Marco Dawson 72, 68, 67; Bernhard Langer (Germany) 70, 68, 69; Hal Sutton 68, 69, 70; Notah Begay III 67, 69, 71.
208 — John Huston 69, 72, 67; Todd Fischer 73, 68, 67; Joe Durant 69, 70, 69; Scott Laycock (Australia) 71, 67, 70; Glen Hnatiuk (Canada) 68, 70, 70; Woody Austin 71, 67, 70; Patrick Sheehan 68, 69, 71.
209 — Davis Love III 70, 71, 68; Cliff Kresge 70, 69, 70; Paul Lawrie (Britain) 68, 71, 70; Alex Cejka (Germany) 69, 74, 66; Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan) 69, 70, 70; David Duval 74, 62, 73.
Other international players:
212 — Craig Parry (Australia) 70, 71, 71; Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 71, 70, 71.
214 — Richard Johnson (Sweden) 70, 72, 72.
215 — Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 72, 69, 74.
216 — Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 73, 70, 73; Robert Allenby (Australia) 71, 73, 72; John Senden (Australia) 74, 70, 72; Tim Clark (South Africa) 75, 69, 72.
219 — Steven Alker (New Zealand) 69, 71, 79.
222 — Stuart Appleby (Australia) 74, 70, 78.—Reuters
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