Rory Sabbatini settled after an early double bogey to salvage a two-over 72 and build a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods in the Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods dropped out of a share for the lead with a bogey from the trees on the final hole, but still managed a 69 and left himself a good chance to win this World Golf Championship for the third straight year.
”I tried to hang in there and not give any shots back,” Woods said.
Sabbatini was at four-under 206, the highest score for a 54-hole leader at Firestone since it became a WGC event in 1999.
Kenny Perry had a 71 and was the only other player under par at one-under 209. He will be in the final threesome on Sunday.
Sabbatini and Woods verbally sparred this spring starting at the Wachovia Championship, where Woods rallied from one shot behind the spunky South African to win at Quail Hollow. Five days later, Sabbatini said he thought Woods looked ”as beatable as ever”.
Woods responded by mentioning he had three victories in 2007, as many as Sabbatini had in his career.
What kind of fireworks will Sunday bring?
”He’s trying to obviously think of ways to motivate himself,” Woods said. ”A lot of guys don’t really externalise it. We all say things like that inside, and he’s just trying to gain any kind of edge mentally when you’re out there playing. He just verbalises them.”
Sabbatini didn’t back down, saying he was one-one going against Woods in final rounds, the most recent coming at Quail Hollow. And the other time?
”NCAAs, final round. I beat him by five,” Sabbatini said proudly.
But didn’t Woods win the NCAA title that year? ”He did, but I beat him in the final round,” Sabbatini said with a grind.
”So if I beat him by five tomorrow, I’m loving my chances.”
Whether it becomes a two-man race remains to be seen, with ten players seperated by five shots going into the final round.
Of the last three groups, Woods was the only player to break par.
The other five players were 21 over par.
The best anyone could do was a 67, one of those belonging to Aaron Baddeley. That put him in a tie for fourth at one-over 211, a group that included Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan, who each had a 71; and Andres Romero, the 26-year-old from Argentina coming off his first European Tour victory last week in Germany.
”It’s so firm right now, you look at some of these pins and you just start to laugh,” Leonard said. ”But it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, soften up a little bit. And if that happens, we might see some better scores.”
No one suffered quite like Masters champion Zach Johnson.
He was tied for the lead at five under par when his tee shot on the par-four ninth went right into deep rough. He tried to hack out to the fairway, but the ball shot across into the left rough. From there he went into a bunker, then over the green. His wedge slid under the ball, moving it only a few feet. The next chip didn’t reach the green.
Johnson had to make a four-foot putt to escape with a quadruple-bogey number.
Then he took double bogey on the next hole, and went from leading to five shots behind.
”I tried to play safe every shot,” Johnson said. ”I tried to play the percentages on every single shot I hit. And I made a four-footer for an eight. A good eight.” – Sapa-AP