Tiger poised to be No. 1 in world again
Tiger Woods is one round away from returning to No. 1 in the world.
With key par saves early in his round and an eagle for the third consecutive day at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., Woods seized control Saturday with a 6-under 66 to race by Justin Rose and build a twoshot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Woods was at 11-under 205, two shots ahead of Rickie Fowler (67), John Huh (71) and Rose, who at one point was six shots ahead of Woods. Rose had a 39 on the back nine and wound up with a 72.
Woods hasn’t been No. 1 in the world ranking since the last week of October 2010. That can change Sunday with a victory on a Bay Hill course where he has won seven times, and from a position where he hardly ever loses.
Woods is 41-2 on the PGA Tour when he has the outright lead going into the final round.
“Just because I’ve won here doesn’t ensure that I’m going to win the tournament,” Woods said. “The conditions are different. The game might be different. But the objective is still to put myself in position to win the golf tournament and somehow get it done on Sunday. Over the course of my career, I’ve done a pretty decent job of that.”
Rose had a three-shot lead on the back nine until he crumbled, making three bogeys over the last six holes. Fowler dropped only one shot on a muggy day with a short burst of showers, closing with a par from the back bunker on the 18th.
Beatriz Recari drove the green on the 285-yard 16th hole to set up a 4-foot eagle putt and finished with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke lead in the LPGA Kia Classic. The 25-year-old Spaniard had an 11-under 205 total at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif. Karrie Webb was second after a 70 even after dropping strokes with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 17. Paula Creamer (71) and I.K. Kim (70) were three shots back.
Corey Pavin birdied his first six holes and finished with a 5-under 67 to join Bernhard Langer, Roger Chapman and Joe Daley atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier, Miss.