England’s Luke Donald was doing his best to pull away from the pack by posting four birdies on his first six holes in the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Chris DiMarco and Sergio Garcia were also firmly in the hunt at the Medinah Country Club.
Retief Goosen, of South Africa, was in the clubhouse with one of the best early scores, firing a four-under 68 to reach five-under 211.
Donald, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson started the day in a four-way tie for the lead with Americans Billy Andrade and Tim Herron.
”There’s a lot of people who have a chance, a lot of great players who are up there,” said American David Toms, who is two shots adrift of the leaders.
The players teed off in Saturday morning’s third round to an even softer 7 561 yard Medinah Country Club course after Friday’s steady rain.
Heading into the third round, Woods was one of 11 players who were at eight-under par and within one shot of the leaders. There are 24 players within four strokes, including defending champion Mickelson.
With Medinah being easy pickings for the players this week, Woods said the key would be hitting fairways and limiting mistakes on the greens.
”You’ve got to go out there and understand there’s a bunch of guys within four or five shots,” Woods said. ”You need to go out there and make some birdies here and there and try not to give anything back.”
Woods missed 13 of 28 fairways in the opening two rounds, but some masterful putting has kept him in contention. He is a perfect 11-for-11 in majors when leading or tied for the lead going into the final round. He clearly has the momentum and he underlined that Friday by rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt on 18.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen came out with the most spark of the early starters on Saturday, firing four birdies on the front nine to move with three-strokes of the leaders at five-under.
Europeans have been shut out in major championships since 1999 when Paul Lawrie won the British Open.
Donald is looking to end that drought. He been standing up to the best players in the world this week after three frustrating starts in majors in 2006. ”I am just going to treat the next hole as number 37 and try to carry it from there,” said Donald, who finished third in the 2005 Masters.
Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy seeks to validate his United States Open champion with his second major in Chicago. As the third wheel in the Woods-Mickelson grouping over the first two days, he showed he can withstand the zoo-like atmosphere in and still maintain his strong game.
”I’m pretty fortunate that I got to play two days with those guys,” said Ogilvy, who is one-shot back of the leaders at seven-under. ”You learn how to deal with all the stuff that goes on in their world. They can keep their world, but it is fun for a few days.”
Ogilvy will be paired with American Davis Love, the 1997 PGA champion, in Saturday’s moving day. — Sapa-AFP