Woods five back and stalking Memorial lead
GETTY DUBLIN, Ohio — The cheers kept coming across Muirfield Village, even after Tiger Woods was done making another run up the leaderboard at the Memorial. Patrick Cantlay made two eagles, including a hole-in-one.
Joaquin Niemann, the 19-year-old from Chile, took the lead with a 50-foot eagle putt and fell out of the lead when his bid for another eagle attempt landed in the corner of a meandering creek.
Bryson DeChambeau ended an action-packed Saturday by making one of only six birdies on the par-3 16th hole, saving par with a tough flop shot from behind the 17th green and finishing off a 6-under 66 with a 9-iron into five feet.
That gave him a one-shot lead going into the final round, which features Woods in the mix at Muirfield Village for the first time in six years.
“Look, I just want to birdie every hole,” DeChambeau said. “That’s all we’re trying to do out there.”
The course is so soft and vulnerable, it seems as though that’s what it might take.
Woods certainly appears up to WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin went airborne, Evgeny Kuznetsov flapped his arms like a bird of prey and the Washington Capitals are flying high, just two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup.
Ovechkin dived to score his 14th goal of the playoffs and raised his arms in joy when Kuznetsov beat MarcAndre Fleury and broke out his signature bird celebration in a second period the two Russians will long remember. Led by their two best players, the Capitals beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-1, Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final.
“I knew Kuzy would elevate his game,” coach Barry Trotz said. “I thought it was sort of the right thing that in a playoff game, first (home) victory in the finals that Alex would score the first goal. It was sort of poetic justice if you will for all the tough times.”
Fired up for the first Cup Final game in Washington since 1998, the Capitals unloaded chance after chance on Fleury, who made 23 saves but couldn’t backstop a frazzled, disjointed team that lost two games in a row for the first time in the playoffs.
At the other end, Braden Holtby gifted Tomas Nosek a goal by giving the puck away but stopped the other 21 shots he faced from the Golden Knights, who looked nothing like the winners of 13 of their first 16 playoff games through the first three rounds. “All year we’ve had a lot of guys going,” Vegas defenseman Deryk Engelland said. “That hasn’t been the case. Our goalie’s been bailing us out with huge saves all night and we have to bear down and be better for him.”
Game 4 is in Washington on Monday night. The Capitals are seeking their first title in their 43-year history, and with two more wins, they’ll get it
“We haven’t been behind in any series,” Fleury said. “It doesn’t mean we’re out of it.”
They’re not out, but they’re down because Holtby was there when the Capitals needed him. Of course, they didn’t need much because they were on the attack for much of the game.
Ovechkin attempted eight shots in the first period and scored a goal that seemed inevitable. It came 1:10 into the second period when Ovechkin went fullextension over Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb to reach the rebound and backhanded the puck past Fleury. Ovechkin’s 14th goal of the playoffs matched John Druce’s franchise record set in 1990 and tied him for the league lead in these playoffs.
His joy overflowed on the bench when Kuznetsov showed his injured left arm is just fine by scoring on a perfect wrist shot on an odd-man rush. Ovechkin looked to the ceiling with his arms extended as he was hugged by Lars Eller.
Devante Smith-Pelly gave the Capitals an insurance goal with 6:07 left — his fourth of the playoffs — after Jay Beagle took the puck away from Shea Theodore on the forecheck and found his teammate skating in alone on Fleury. “I’ve always loved the playoffs,” Smith-Pelly said. “I love scoring the big goals. I don’t know what it is, but these kinds of games are the most fun to play in.” the task. He hit the ball so pure on Friday that he missed five putts inside 7 feet and still shot 67. He had just as much control on Saturday and at one point was tied for the lead. And then he three-putted two of the last three holes, missing a par putt from just over three feet on the 18th, and all he had to show for it was a 68.
“I know I shot 68 today, but again, that’s probably the highest score I could have possibly shot,” said Woods, who was five shots behind. “I played really, really well. I played beautifully, actually. Had total control of what I was doing out there and just didn’t finish it off.”
Woods is a five-time winner at the Memorial, the last one in 2012. He has gone nearly five years since his last victory. This is the third time this year Woods has gone into the final round within five shots of the lead.