[ MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tiger Woods followed his drive from the 18th tee yesterday during the Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Maui. Woods shot an 8-under 65 to finish seven strokes off the lead.
Goosen and
Woods still alive
KAPALUA, Maui >> When Retief Goosen and Tiger Woods began yesterday's third round as playing partners, they were so far behind Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby, neither figured to make a real run.
But all that changed after the talented twosome had stellar rounds to move into contention at the $5.3 million Mercedes Championships entering today's final 18. Goosen had nine birdies en route to a 64 to move to 15 under for the tournament, trailing Appleby by five shots.
Goosen's round equaled Vijay Singh's 64 on Friday, but the South African said Singh's was more impressive because of the windy conditions. The Kona breezes remained at the Plantation Course, but weren't quite as hard as the previous two days.
"His round yesterday was great in that wind," said Goosen, who trails only Appleby and Singh. "The wind was playing probably two clubs stronger than it blew today. Really good round he got in there yesterday.
"You know, if you get through Nos. 1 and 2, with a couple of pars, you sort of feel quite happy. But you feel you should make birdie on three through six, those holes, really get your chances."
Goosen birdied all four of those en route to a 6-under 30 over the opening nine holes. He fired a 3-under 34 on the back nine to beat Woods straight up by one shot. Woods had an 8-under 65 yesterday to move into fifth place, 13 under for the tourney.
"And I left at least three shots out there," Woods said. "I three-putted twice. And I make par on six when I should have made birdie there. Other than that, I really played well. I think even if any of us goes out and posts a low number, it will be tough to catch Stuart and Vijay. I'd probably need to shoot a 62 or 63 just to have a chance."
Woods finally got through the first two holes without as much damage as in the opening two rounds. He bogeyed it Thursday and double-bogeyed the tough par-4 on Friday. He came back with a par yesterday and birdied No. 2, a hole he bogeyed Friday, to keep from having a slow start.
"I shanked it off the first tee," Woods said. "I ended up almost in the bushes over there again. Somehow I got a big break and hit a good shot out of there and had a great chance at birdie and just missed it.
"I stuffed it in there on two and made that and really got going and didn't put myself in that deep of a hole. Retief and I had good rounds today. He did a better job with the putter during that stretch on the front nine."
The South African agreed with that assessment.
"Obviously playing with Tiger is nice," Goosen said. "We were both trying hard. His round could have been lower. He struggled a bit with the putter on a couple of holes. He played actually better than me. He putted worse than me. That was the difference."
Goosen has a solid history at this course. He finished tied for fourth last year, trailing fellow countryman Ernie Els by nine shots. He won the Chrysler Championship last year and tied for second at The International. He has three wins on tour, including the 2001 U.S. Open Championship.
"The first round of golf I played in a month was on Monday," Goosen said. "The first time I hit some balls in a month was probably Sunday. I came here pretty rusted. On Tuesday, the face of my driver cracked. I had to get a new driver. I'm not all that comfortable off the tee.
"But my iron play is getting better. Today I shaped the ball a lot better into the greens to give myself the birdie chances. How I play (today) depends on what the weather is doing. If it's going to be like this again, I'm probably going to shoot another 8 or 9 under to give myself a chance. You're going to need a low one to catch the guys up there."
Woods is certainly capable of doing something similar. He had 30 putts for the third straight day, something he needs to improve if he wants to move up from fifth place.
"I need the wind to blow like it did today," Woods said. "And then I obviously need to go low. With Vijay and Stuart playing that well, you know, they can go out there and play a solid front nine and put most of us out of the tournament."
