Villegas leads by one stroke over Furyk
Rain forced the tournament to start a day late, and players faced 36 holes to get back on schedule. But fog caused a 90-minute delay in the morning, meaning the third round would not finish on time. Villegas is borrowing an idea from Vijay Singh by trying to convince himself he is the best putter on the PGA Tour. It worked most of the day but not on No. 9. Villegas lagged a 60-foot putt to about 4 feet, badly missed his par putt, then missed a 3-foot comeback putt.
He was visibly angry, but not for long.
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty there, but came back and made birdie-birdie,” Villegas said.
Villegas holed a 30-footer on the 10th, added a short birdie on the 11th to make up for the double bogey, and continued to hit it close the rest of the round. He made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole to finish the first two rounds at 9-under 131.
Even so, the 26-year-old from Colombia missed three birdie putts inside 10 feet, a testament to how well he is hitting his irons on rain-softened Bellerive Country Club.
Furyk holed out with a wedge from 114 yards for eagle on No. 2, his 11th hole, then finished his course-record round of 62 with five straight birdies, the longest from 15 feet on No. 7.
European Masters
CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland – Teenager Rory McIlroy shot a 5-under 66 to take a four-stroke lead after the third round of the European Masters.
The 19-year-old player from Northern Ireland had a 54-hole total of 13-under 200 to lead a group of six players bunched on 204. That group included Robert Dinwiddie, who shot the low round of 64.
Nykredit Masters
HELSINGOER, Denmark – Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under 68 to trail Melissa Reid by six shots after the second round of the Nykredit Masters.
Reid, a rookie from England, eagled the last two holes for a 66. Sorenstam, in her final tournament in Europe, shared second place with Martina Eberl of Germany (73).
U.S. Mid-Amateur
MILWAUKEE – Jim Doing of Verona, Wis., shot an 80 in the first round of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
Not bad for an opera singer, especially one who struggled with his putter.
“I managed to three-putt twice from 21/2 feet. I just could not make a putt,” said Doing, 46, who teaches music at the University of Wisconsin.
Doing was among 264 golfers who began two days of stroke play, with the top 64 advancing to four days of match play beginning Monday.
“I basically shot myself out of it but it was pretty cool,” Doing said, acknowledging he is unlikely to reach match play.
The field also includes more than a half-dozen Wisconsin golfers, including 62-year-old Mark Bemowski – the oldest player in the tournament. Like Doing, he struggled with a 79.
“Probably not, really, in all honesty,” Bemowski responded when asked if he should be competing against younger players. But the Mukwonago, Wis., golfer could not resist the lure of a national event in his home state.
“That’s the only reason I played in it. I’ve even been exempt a whole bunch of times but I’ve never played in this before. The only reason I did is just because it’s here, in Milwaukee,” he said.
Alli Jarrett, the U.S. Golf Association official directing the tournament, said Doing and Bemowski are examples of why the event, limited to players 25 and older, is so interesting.
“I think the type of players we have is the most unique thing about this championship,” she said. “You have lawyers and businessmen and people from all walks of life participating. And you have older and younger players competing, which is part of the generational appeal of golf.”
In addition to likely participants such as University of San Diego men’s golf coach Tim Mickelson, the brother of pro star Phil, there is emergency room doctor Doug Hoey from Holland, Mich.
The first two rounds are being played on two courses, the private Milwaukee Country Club – also the site for match play – and the public Brown Deer Golf Club, the site of the U.S. Bank Championship.
Copyright Associated Press 2008