Golf roundup
Hoch, Tway tied for lead in Ford Championship MIAMI (AP) – Scott Hoch finally found a swing that worked and a putting stroke that couldn’t fail Saturday to shoot a 6-under 66 and share the lead with Bob Tway going into the final round of the Ford Championship at Doral.
Ready to give up on the tournament for the second time this week, Hoch shortened his swing to compensate for a sore left wrist and went on a tear, making birdies on seven of his final 11 holes.
He was at 14-under 202 and will play in the final group with Tway, who parred the final eight holes for a 3-under 69.
“After five holes, I told my caddie, ‘It doesn’t look like we’re going to get it done today.’ I was trying different swings and it wasn’t working,” Hoch said. “All of a sudden, things clicked on No. 8 and I started hitting good shot after good shot.”
Hoch, 47, will need plenty more of those in sweltering south Florida.
Sunday is shaping up to be a shootout at Doral, with six others within three shots of the lead.
Jim Furyk overcame two short misses with a good par save from the bunker on the 18th hole for a 69. He was one stroke out of the lead at 203 with Carlos Franco of Paraguay, who holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the last for a 68.
Right behind them was perhaps the most dangerous player in the field.
Mike Weir, who is starting to make a habit out of winning, surged into contention with a stunning finish – a 40-foot birdie putt on the 15th, a 10-foot par save on the 16th and two wedge shots that were flawless.
The first one hopped behind the hole and spun back in for an eagle on the 17th. The second wedge was to 3 feet on the 18th and allowed him to save par and shoot 67, leaving him only two strokes behind.
Weir won the Bob Hope Classic by making up a four-shot deficit on the final day, and he rallied from seven shots behind to win the Nissan Open in a playoff.
“I felt like my good shots didn’t pan out very well,” Weir said. “I told myself if I can just hang in there and give myself a shot tomorrow … that’s all I really wanted.”
That’s what he gets – him and about a dozen other guys.
Billy Mayfair was 7 under par during a six-hole stretch and shot 65. He was at 11-under 205 with Rod Pampling (70) and Cliff Kresge (68).
“If someone gets hot … who knows what’s going to happen?” Hoch said.
The heat was unavoidable Saturday at Doral, where the wind was moderate and the temperatures approached 90 degrees.
And there were plenty of hot starts.
Nick Faldo birdied the first six holes and was two strokes out of the lead before Tway and Furyk even arrived at the practice range. He stumbled coming in and finished with a 69.
Tim Petrovic had seven straight birdies in the middle of his round, while playing partner Skip Kendall started eagle-birdie-birdie and was 5 under par through his first five holes.
No one sustained a good round like Mayfair.
He was lucky to get bogey on the third hole, was still even par for the day and losing ground when Mayfair played his next six holes in 7 under par. Despite a three-putt bogey on the 18th, he finished with a 65.
Still, Mayfair knew he would have a lot of ground to cover Sunday.
“That bogey on 18 hurt me a lot,” Mayfair said.
No one knows pain like Hoch this week. He was on the verge of pulling out Thursday morning until he hit his final 10 balls on the practice range and felt good enough to start. Three days later, he has a good chance to win for the 11th time on tour.
“I’m as surprised as you are,” Hoch said.
His last victory came at the 2001 Western Open, where Hoch’s hand hurt so much he quit his practice round after 12 holes.
That might be his secret to winning, although a more logical explanation is good shots. Once Hoch got through the eighth hole with a birdie, he started hitting shots close and knocking in the putts.
“My key is how my hand feels,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t have to make an adjustment or try to find the swing that works.”
Els, two others tied for lead at Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Ernie Els saved par on the troublesome 18th hole and finished with a 3-under 69 to grab a share of the lead entering the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Els, seeking his third Dubai title and second in a row, birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes, and his par on No. 18 gave him a three-round total of 13-under 203. The South African is tied with Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth and England’s David Lynn.
Lynn and Forsyth, who has led from the start, also shot 3-under 69. Forsyth had one bogey, on No. 4. Lynn had bogeys on the second and fifth holes, but three birdies on the back nine put him in contention.
Els, who already has four victories this season, struggled on the front nine but had a chance to take sole possession of the lead with his three successive birdies. Yet for the second straight day he got into trouble on the par-5, 547-yard 18th.
Els’ second shot got stuck in rocks on the wall by the lake, but he managed to save par. On Friday, his second shot found the water short of the green, and he bogeyed the hole to slip into a four-way tie.
“I had to be patient,” Els said. “Yesterday on the 18th I hit a bad 4-iron, so I deserve what I got today. I had a 6-iron today and had 195 to the front. I took a chance again but felt the ball was going to come out flying a little bit. I had to find a shot just to get the ball out.”
Forsyth was optimistic about his chances Sunday.
“Obviously Ernie is there, so probably he is the man to beat,” he said. “But today he showed he was human and does makes mistakes.”
Lynn had to work on his game on the front nine, but after going for more height through his swing, he putted five birdies, including the 18th.
“It took me eight holes to get going today, and I was really struggling over the first six,” he said. “It’s very important to stay up there, and it gives me the chance tomorrow to just go out and just play hard and try to make some early birdies.”
Mikko Ilonen of Finland, who started the day tied for the lead, shot a 1-over 73, slipping four strokes behind the leaders at 9-under 207.