Golf roundup
Tiger dominating at Bay Hill Invitational ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – The first meeting this year between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els was hardly the showdown everyone anticipated.
As usual, Woods was the only show at the Bay Hill Invitational.
Dominant in every phase of the game, Woods left his top rival and everyone else in his wake with a 6-under 66 that gave him a five-stroke lead and virtually assured him another place in the record books.
Woods, who has never lost a PGA Tour event when leading by more than one stroke going into the final round, was 18 holes away from becoming the first player in more than 70 years to win the same tournament four straight years.
Woods was at 15-under 201, and a 54-hole lead of any margin is a huge advantage for him. He is 27-2 when he has at least a share of the lead entering the final round.
“He’s still the man,” Els said after a 72 that left him 10 strokes behind. “He loves playing with me, I can promise you that.”
Woods sensed a high level of energy in the crowd, but he wasn’t concerned with his playing partners, or even a fourth straight Bay Hill title.
“I knew I had to take care of business today and set myself up for tomorrow,” he said.
Brad Faxon, who also played in the final group with Woods at Torrey Pines, had only two pars over his final 12 holes in a round of 65 that left him at 10-under 206.
Asked what was a reasonable deficit to make up on Woods, Faxon smiled and said, “How about him four strokes behind?”
“One of my goals is to play more with Tiger, and not in the practice rounds,” Faxon said. “He’s the favorite. There’s no superlatives left.”
Els, the No. 2 player in the world who already has won four times this year, was in the final group with Woods on Saturday, albeit four strokes behind.
Any chance of mounting a charge vanished when his tee shot went into the lake on No. 6.
“That really set me back,” Els said.
Stewart Cink, who also played in the final group, got within two strokes of Woods until a bogey on No. 8. He closed with 10 straight pars for a 70 and was at 208.
Aaron Baddeley, the 22-year-old Aussie, had a brief scare from an alligator and wound up with a 70 to finish in a large group at 7-under 209.
Woods can become the first player to win the same tournament four straight times since Gene Sarazen in the Miami Open from 1926 to 1930. The Miami Open wasn’t played in 1927, when it switched from a fall to a spring date.
Woods had the advantage long before he and Els met on the practice green, where they stood back-to-back as they hit putts.
A few hours earlier, Woods had set the tournament record with 10 birdies in one round. He made six of them in 11 holes Saturday morning to complete the rain-delayed second round with a 7-under 65, giving him a three-stroke lead over Cink.
Els was four strokes behind, a daunting gap considering he was chasing Woods at Bay Hill, a golf course where Woods has dominated the last three years.
Still, the fact that Woods and Els were in the final group generated an enormous buzz. Some of the players were talking about it before they teed off, and fans crammed in behind the ropes from tee-to-green on the 441-yard opening hole.
And when Els’ 25-foot birdie putt took one last turn before falling, the anticipation grew even more under a steamy sun.
It didn’t last long.
Woods stuck his tee shot into 5 feet on the par-3 second hole for birdie, and it soon became clear that Els was struggling to find the pace on the greens.
Safeway Ping
PHOENIX – Annika Sorenstam’s new year is already starting to look a lot like her old one.
In relentless pursuit of her first win of the season, Sorenstam shot a 7-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Safeway Ping tournament.
The most dominant player in women’s golf, winning 11 tournaments last year, Sorenstam birdied three of her first four holes and nine overall to get to 18 under through three rounds at the Moon Valley Country Club.
Sorenstam, who has improved by one shot each day, was two strokes ahead of Frenchwoman Patricia Meunier-Lebouc. Two more strokes back at 15 under were Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak and Grace Park.
Toshiba Classic
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Australia’s Rodger Davis shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead over Jim Ahern into the final round of the Toshiba Senior Classic.
Davis had a tournament-record 13-under 129 total on the Newport Beach Country Club course, breaking the mark of 130 set by Terry Mauney in 2001. Ahern, looking for his second career win on the Champions Tour, shot a 67.
Jose Maria Canizares shot his second consecutive 5-under 66 to move into third place with a two-day total of 132.
Madeira Island
SANTO DA SERRA, Madeira Islands – Bradley Dredge of Wales missed birdie putts on the last two holes, squandering a chance to shoot the first 59 on the European Tour at the Madeira Island Open.
Dredge had 10 birdies and an eagle in 16 holes but missed birdie putts of 11 and 30 feet at Nos. 17 and 18. He shot a 12-under 60 to move to 15-under and has an eight-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
Dredge’s 60 is the 11th in European Tour competition, and just the fourth on a par-72 course. Darren Clarke has shot 60 twice.