WOODSTOCK, Ga. -- One bad hole was all it took for Tiger Woods to lose a comfortable lead Saturday at the American Express
Championship. One great round was all Vijay Singh needed to give
himself a chance.
Woods chopped up the 16th hole and had to make an 8-footer for
double bogey, finishing with a 1-under 69 that cut his lead down to
two strokes.
Singh, who leads the PGA Tour money list and is about $475,000
ahead of Woods, was flawless off the tee and shot a 6-under 64
despite two bogeys over his final five holes.
"I could have gone lower, but 64 is a great number for me,"
Singh said. "It's going to be a good boost for tomorrow."
The $6 million World Golf Championship finally has some drama,
although Woods could have done without it.
He still has the lead, at 8-under 202, and is nearly unbeatable
in these situations. Woods is 29-2 on the PGA Tour when he has at
least a share of the lead going into the last round.
"It's not easy going out there with the lead because you know
everyone is coming at you," Woods said. "But if I shoot the same
score they do, I win."
Still, he figures to face a stiff challenge from the big Fijian.
Singh was at 204 and will be paired with Woods in the final
round at Capital City Club.
Tim Herron recovered from a double bogey when his tee shot
slammed into a portable toilet left of the ninth fairway. He
birdied three of the next four holes, finished with a 67 and was
only three shots behind at 205.
Herron will be paired with K.J. Choi, whose 68 left the South
Korean at 206.
"It's always fun to play with Tiger," Herron said. "But
there's probably less pressure, to be honest."
Woods has not lost a PGA Tour event when leading after 36 holes
since the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic, and the American Express
appeared as though that trend would continue with little
resistance.
He had a five-shot lead, was belting his new driver and holing
his share of putts.
"I just made two mistakes I don't normally make," Woods said,
referring to a three-putt on No. 8 and making bogey with a sand
wedge in his hand on No. 11.
The Crabapple course was as easy as it has been all week -- an
average score of 70.7 in the third round, more than three strokes
below Friday's round.
Unlike the first two days, the brick-hard greens actually held
well-struck shots, and the pins were more accessible. The result
was more birdies and fewer complaints.
"Did it rain last night?" Paul Casey asked jokingly after his
66. "It's suddenly playable."
No one took advantage quite like Singh.
He started the day seven shots behind, although every shot
matters for a guy who is trying to win the PGA Tour money title.
Singh was aggressive from tee-to-green, picking up occasional
birdies as he tried to chip away at the lead. For nine holes, he
wasn't getting anywhere.
Woods made two 18-foot birdie putts, and when he nearly drove
the 379-yard seventh and got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie,
his lead was six.
But it all started to change when Woods and Singh were a mere
150 yards apart -- Woods lipping out a par putt from 6 feet on No.
8, while across the fairway, Singh was daintily raising his hand on
the 10th green to acknowledge the gallery after another birdie.
Singh birdied the next two holes and was 7 under through 12
holes, and even missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 13th.
Woods, meanwhile, watched his lead fluctuate throughout the
mild, breezy afternoon well north of Atlanta.
He backed off his par putt on No. 8 four times because of a
yellow jacket hovering over his ball, then made his first bogey. A
poor chip on No. 11 led to another bogey, and suddenly his lead was
down to one shot.
Woods recovered with back-to-back birdies and restored his
margin to four shots when Singh three-putted for bogey on the
fringe.
Then, suddenly, Singh closed the gap again.
Woods' tee shot on No. 16 plugged into the left bunker, and he
only managed to blast out some 65 yards into the first cut of
rough. His approach plugged in another bunker, and he got that out
to 60 feet.
He had to make an 8-footer just to save double bogey.
Up ahead, Singh rolled in his eighth birdie of the day on No. 17
to again cut the lead to one stroke, although he found the right
rough on the 18th and made bogey.
More is at stake Sunday than just a trophy.
Singh is trying to take the money title from Woods, who's won it
the last four years. A victory is worth $1.05 million, and
whichever one of them wins Sunday will lead the money list.
Singh already has won three times this year; another victory
would tie him with Woods and Davis Love III at a tour-leading four
victories and thrust the Fijian into serious consideration for PGA
Tour player of the year.
"I'm not going to focus on that," Singh said. "I'm going to
play hole-by-hole and do what I did today."