Tiger Woods stretched his lead to three shots after the third round of the 89th US PGA Championship to stand on the verge of capturing the season’s final Major for the fourth time in nine years.
The World Number One made it clear that he has no intention of relinquishing the Wanamaker Trophy which he won for a third time at Medinah last year by firing a third round 69 for a total of 203.
And as he embarks on the final 18 holes in his quest for a 13th Major to move within five of Jack Nicklaus’s record, Woods has the advantage of knowing that on all previous 12 successes he led or co-led the Championship.
Woods will partner Stephen Ames in the final grouping after the Canadian birdied the last hole to match the leader’s 69. Remarkably the leading five players on the leaderboard all shot the same score with American Woody Austin moving into third place on 207, Australian John Senden fourth on 208 and South African Ernie Els on 209.
The leading quintet are the only five players are under par after 54 holes after another day of intense heat and humidity in which American Boo Weekley enjoyed the honour of carding the low round, a five under par 65 for level par and a tie for sixth.
Woods, who started the day two ahead, made two birdies and one bogey in what was, for him, a relatively conservative round. He plotted his way round Southern Hills with considerable care and tried not too expend too many energy in the process.
Els, by contrast, made an aggressive play to get into contention and recovered from a double bogey at the fourth to throw in five birdies and two more bogeys on his way to breaking 70.
However it was Woods who took command of the event with his solid 69 and the defending champion said; “I accomplished my goal, which was to shoot under par and increase my lead. I was able to do that so it was a positive day all round.
“I kept myself out of trouble most of the time, tried to keep hitting fairways and not take a run at too many putts. I just wanted to lag them up there and tap them in.”
That strategy paid off handsomely to take Woods to the verge of yet another Major triumph in his final opportunity to stave off a ‘Major-less’ season in which first-time winners Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington have taken the honours.
“I’ve always said that to have a great year you have to win a Major Championship” he continued. “You can win every tournament, but the Majors is where it’s at. I’ve had opportunities this year and haven’t done it. I’m in good shape and hopefully I can get the job done tomorrow.”
Els, who already has three Majors under his belt but not a US PGA, said: “I’ve made 14 birdies this week which means I am doing some things right, but it also means I’m making soft mistakes. I made that double bogey from nowhere on the fourth and it drives me crazy.
“It’s frustrating. My swing has been pretty good and my putting stroke’s not too bad. But for some reason the game is testing me at the moment. I was trying to shoot 65 today as my goal for the weekend was to try to get to ten under. I’ve just got to shoot 61 tomorrow” he added with a laugh.
Sweden’s Peter Hanson was yet another player to shoot 69 to take over the mantle of leading European player from his countryman, Niclas Fasth, who faded from the picture with a debilitating 79.
Hanson is tied for 15th place after birdying three of the last six holes while England’s Luke Donald and Justin Rose share 17th place along with BMW PGA Champion Anders Hansen of Denmark after signing for matching 70s. Rose’s achievement was especially meritorious in that he ran up a quadruple bogey at the third but still managed to shoot level par.
Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington joined Ian Poulter of England on 214, four over par, while another Englishman, Paul Casey, climbed to level par after six before dropping back to six over with a round of 74.
Open Champion Harrington conceded that the hoopla surrounding his Carnoustie victory might be taking their toll. The Dubliner looked somewhat weary after signing for a 72 and he said: “I felt flat out there. Maybe it’s a sign of being out of the tournament and not having the adrenalin to keep my going.
“I think the tournament is definitely out of the question at this stage and I needed a bit more in the tank after everything that’s gone on since Carnoustie.”
Clarke, who shot 71, believes his game is not far away. “I am still hitting some silly shots but I’m going in the right direction” he said. “I am getting there and I hope that the rest of the season holds some good things for me.”
Casey was philosophical afterwards, commenting: “I was going along nicely and got back to even par after six holes. After that it just slowly leaked away.”
Sergio Garcia, runner-up in last month’s Open Championship was disqualified from the US PGA Championship after signing an incorrect scorecard. Playing partner Weekley marked Garcia’s score as a down par four on the 17th, when in fact the Spaniard had taken a five.
But for the error, Garcia would have had a four over par 74 after bogeys at his final two holes and been nine over par for the Championship. Weekley accepted some of the blame, but not all.
"It's my fault for putting the wrong score in, but it's his fault for not checking," Weekley said. "I just said, 'Sergio, I put a four but in fact you had a five.' He said, 'That just puts the icing on the cake."'
Weekley called Garcia back to the scoring tent after the scorecard had been signed in an attempt to correct the oversight. However, once Garcia had left the area, the disqualification was inevitable.
