Putting always has been Vijay Singh’s nemesis. His warehouse full of putters attests to it.
Three weeks ago, Singh ditched the belly putter he had been using and went back to the conventional style. The change worked. Singh promptly won the Buick Open.
His putter has stayed hot this week. On a less than perfect ball-striking day, he needed only 25 putts in Saturday’s third round.His short putter deserves a birdie. It has Singh in position to win his third major title.
Birdie: Justin Leonard. The Texan wishes he could have avoided a bogey on 18, but otherwise he played a quality round. Sunday will be a big day as Leonard seeks to return to the game’s elite.
Bogey: Briny Baird. He would have had a chance if he had only had to play 14 holes. Baird saw his dream of winning a major championship disappear with a triple bogey on the par-3 17th and bogeys on 15 and 18. He dropped five shots in the last four holes to fall to 5 under par.
Birdie: Nos. 15, 17 and 18. The three holes produced more bogeys than birdies. The par-4 15th was the toughest on the course, with 17 ranking second and 18 fourth. The only reprieve during the brutal stretch was the par-5 16th, which played as the easiest hole on the course.
Bogey: Stuart Appleby. Apparently Appleby wasn’t paying attention when the players were informed that all of the bunkers, even those outside the ropes, would be treated as hazards. That meant no grounding of clubs or removing debris.
Appleby suffered a brain cramp when his tee shot found a bunker outside the ropes on 16. First, he removed some twigs and leaves from the bunker. That’s a two-shot penalty. Then he grounded his club. Bang, another two shots. A four-stroke penalty led to a painful 9 on the par 5.
“I could have saved four strokes by reading a piece of paper inside the locker room,” Appleby said.
Birdie: Chris Riley and Chris DiMarco. With Ryder Cup spots on the line, both players are making serious bids for the U.S. team.
Bogey: Tiger Woods. Barely making the cut meant he had a 9:10 a.m. tee time, nearly five hours before the leaders. After a third-round 69, he will go off at 11:40 a.m. Sunday. That’s a plus for TNT, which provides the early coverage. But it’s a huge minus for CBS, which would prefer to see him battling for the lead.
