By DOUG FERGUSON ADVERTISING By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Tiger Woods birdied two of his last three holes Saturday to salvage an even-par 72 at windy Sherwood Country Club, keeping his two-shot lead over Zach
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Tiger Woods birdied two of his last three holes Saturday to salvage an even-par 72 at windy Sherwood Country Club, keeping his two-shot lead over Zach Johnson going into the final round of the World Challenge.
The score might have looked routine. The third round was not.
Wind that pushed away some light rain at the start of the round created havoc in the canyons of the Santa Monica mountains, creating indecision from the fairways and making the fast greens even tougher.
Woods hit his tee shot into the water on No. 4 and had to scramble for bogey, and he briefly lost the lead to Johnson. But no one was immune from bogeys, and Woods finished strong to atone for his bogeys. He drilled his second shot into 15 feet on the par-5 16th for a two-putt birdie, and then holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole after twice backing off his shot in the fairway.
Woods was at 11-under 205.
Johnson, who gave away the lead with two bad holes early on the back nine, also had a good finish. He got up-and-down for his birdie on the 16th and made a 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 72 that put him in the final group with Woods today.
Johnson has twice been runner-up at the World Challenge, both times to Woods.
Woods is a five-time winner at Sherwood, and he’s the best closer in golf. He has a 48-5 record worldwide with the outright lead going into final round, including four of his wins this year. The last time he lost a lead was at Sherwood three years ago, when Graeme McDowell came from four shots behind on the last day.
And while Woods was 10 shots worse than his course record-tying 62, it wasn’t all bad.
Blame that on the wind, and the par-3 15th hole was the best example of that. With a large creek in front of the green and the wind dancing all over the place, the par 3 played to an average score of 4.17. Steve Stricker and Keegan Bradley each made a 7. Rory McIlroy’s best round of the day, a 68, was spoiled by a double bogey.
Woods managed to escape with a bogey, though he made up for it over the last couple of holes.
Bubba Watson three-putted the 18th, missing his par putt from about 4 feet, for a 69 and was four shots behind. No one else was closer than six shots.
Johnson briefly took the lead with a birdie on No. 9, though Woods caught him with a birdie on the 10th. Johnson lost momentum with one bad shot, a fairway metal for his second shot on the par-5 11th that went right into a bed of leaves under a small cluster of trees. He tried to punch under the trees and onto the green, but his shot hit one branch and led to bogey.
Johnson made a double bogey on the par-3 12th and just like that was three shots behind. He got back to within one shot on the next hole when Woods three-putted from 6 feet for bogey and Johnson made bogey.
But on the 15th, Johnson’s tee shot never had a chance. It was like so many shots on the treacherous par 3. Not only did shots find the creek, some of them bounced into the creek, some 20 yards short of the target.
The forecast was for more wind today, and groups will be starting slightly later from both tees.
Woods is trying to end the season with six wins for the ninth time in his career, and he is going for his sixth win at Sherwood. The tournament for 18 top players is moving next year to Isleworth, the course where he honed his professional game near Orlando, Fla.
SUN CITY, South Africa — Jamie Donaldson maintained his three-shot lead through the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, putting the Welshman in sight of his biggest career payday in his Sun City debut.
Donaldson had six birdies and a bogey in a 5-under 67 to stay ahead of American Ryan Moore and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn. Donaldson had a 16-under 200 total.
Moore had a 67, and Bjorn shot 67.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, playing for the first time since ending last season with the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup and European Tour’s Race to Dubai titles, was five strokes back along with Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee. Stenson had a 69, and Garcia and Jaidee shot 66.
The European Tour is sanctioning the event for the first time.
HONG KONG — Wales’ Stuart Manley moved into position for his first European Tour title, shooting a 4-under 66 to take the third-round lead in the Hong Kong Open.
Manley had a 10-under 200 total in the event also sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
Australia’s Wade Ormsby and India’s Shiv Kapur shot 66 to pull within a stroke.
Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain had a 65 to top the group at 8 under. Last year, Jimenez became the oldest champion in European Tour history, winning at 48 years, 318 days. He also won the event in 2005 and 2008.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum rallied to win the Dubai Ladies Masters, hitting a 54-degree wedge to 2 feet on the par-5 final hole for a birdie and a one-stroke victory over American Stacy Lewis.
The 24-year-old Phatlum closed with a 6-under 66 to finish at 15-under 273 in the Ladies European Tour’s season-ending event. She also birdied the par-4 17th at Emirates Golf Course.
The third-ranked Lewis, a three-time winner this year on the LPGA Tour, bogeyed the par-3 15th and closed with three pars for a 69. She missed a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda was third at 7 under after a 71.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jaye Marie Green increased her lead to nine strokes in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament, reaching 25 under after four rounds.
The 19-year-old Green, from Boca Raton, had a 5-under 67 on LPGA International’s Hills Course. She has gone 57 holes without a bogey since dropping a stroke on her 15th hole Wednesday in an opening 62.
South Korea’s Mi Rim Lee was second after a 69, also on the Hills Course. She had a course-record 61 on Friday on the Jones Course.
The top 20 after the final round Sunday will earn Category 12 status, Nos. 21-45 and ties will receive membership in Category 17, and the other players who made the 72-hole cut will get Symetra Tour status.
