With a record crowd basking in glorious autumn sunshine, a new record for a course in the pink of condition and the World Number One golfer leading the field, the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship took on the appearance of a Major Championship at Mount Juliet.
At the end of a blistering day’s golf and low scoring, Tiger Woods was sitting on his customary perch at the top of the leaderboard, with a round of 67 for a three round total of 197 and holding a handsome five shot advantage over the strongest field ever assembled in Ireland.
A total of 31,242 spectactors crowded into the County Kilkenny venue – the largest single day gallery since the start of the World Golf Championships series in 1999 – to watch the maestro at work. They were not disappointed as the awesome American added five birdies to the 15 he accumulated over the first two days. After three rounds, Woods has not made a single bogey.
Six players trail in Woods’s slipstream on 202, 14 under par and a mighty achievement in normal circumstances. But with Woods in sublime form, it will require a superhuman effort from one of his challengers to prevent him from capturing his sixth World Golf Championships title.
Of that half dozen, four are Americans – Jerry Kelly, Steve Lowery, Scott McCarron and David Toms – with Fiji’s Vijay Singh and South African Retief Goosen. Mount Juliet’s touring professional, Padraig Harrington, and Denmark’s Thomas Björn lead the European-born players on 206, ten under par.
Woods, who has led all the way, admitted that he has yet to complete a tournament without making a bogey and said: “If I did that, it would mean I had not only played well but ground it out the entire week. I made some big par putts and I’ve always said you feel better making a big par save than making a birdie.”
Kelly, who played with Woods and carded a round of 70, said: “It will take something in the fifties to catch him. Probably a record low score.” The mood caught on as Toms remarked: “I figure it will take something lower than 64 to beat him.”
That number 64 stands at the new course record for Mounr Juliet, posted early in the day by McCarron, one of Woods’s golfing and fishing buddies during his annual pre-Open Championship visit to Ireland.
However the significance of Goosen’s 68 was not lost on the South African, who trails his compatriot, Ernie Els, in the race to win the 2002 Volvo Order of Merit. While Els lost a ball up a tree at the last and finished with a triple bogey seven for a level par 72, Goosen hit the same tree, ricocheted on to the fairway and saved par.
Goosen, who had just birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th, said: “I know Ernie didn’t have a good finish while I was a little unlucky not to finish with four straight birdies. I can make up a bit of ground this week and with some big tournaments coming up, you never know. It could get exciting towards the end of the season.”
Harrington, playing in front of fervently patriotic home fans, believes his game is going in the right direction. He said: “I’m happy enough. It was good to put together a good score and I made a few birdies on the back nine, which was nice.”
