Oct. 24, 1999
Tway, Woods share lead at Disney
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods would have been
happy with a two-putt par and a one-stroke deficit. Instead, he
rolled in a 40-footer for birdie on the 18th hole Saturday and
tied Bob Tway for the lead after three rounds of the National
Car Rental Classic.
“I'll sleep a lot better tonight because of that putt,”
Woods said after posting his third straight 66 at Disney.
Tway birdied the first four holes on the back nine and made a
crucial par save on the 17th to also shoot a 66 and join Woods
at 198 going into the final round, with Ernie Els (68) the closest
pursuer at 201.
The odds will favor Woods winning for the sixth time in his past
nine tournaments. He has been playing better than anyone since
May, and Woods has won the last nine times in which he had at
least a share of the lead after 54 holes.
“If he's on and you're on, he's probably going to beat you,”
Tway said.
Tway found that out earlier this year in the second round of the
Match Play Championship, where they staged a brilliant duel in
which neither player led by more than one hole before Woods hung
on for a 1-up victory.
Woods recorded his third 66 of the week despite failing to make
birdie on any of the par-5s, all of which he went for in two.
“I usually do birdie the par-5s,” he said.
That suggests that another low score is likely on Sunday, but
it doesn't mean Woods is the only one capable of getting it.
Tway, the 1986 PGA champion who hasn't won since 1995, has been
equally sharp this week with rounds of 67 and 65 and has not made
a bogey in 42 holes.
“I don't know if you're ever due,” he said. “I
have chance tomorrow. I have nothing to lose.”
He also has plenty to gain. A victory Sunday would likely move
Tway from No. 56 on the money list into top 30 and qualify him
for next week's $5 million Tour Championship for the second year
in a row.
“That would be another good year if I get into the Tour Championship,
and it would be nice to win,” he said.
Brad Faxon had 10 birdies in a round of 64, the best score of
the day, and was tied with Franklin Langham at 202. Jim Carter,
tied with Tway and Woods at the start of the day, made a double
bogey on 18 for a 71 that dropped him to 203 along with Loren
Roberts and Jay Delsing.
Woods figures those are the only players who have a realistic
chance of winning, especially the way the Magnolia course is yielding
birdie chances.
Woods certainly had plenty of those on a breezy day at Disney.
He made two putts inside 4 feet on the front nine and also had
his share of lengthy putts — a 30-footer on No. 12, and the
40-footer on the final hole.
He made two nice par saves, flopping a wedge over the posts with
Mickey Mouse ears that grazed the cup on No. 15, and making a
6-footer on the ninth when he missed the green to the right. His
only glitch came on his most powerful shot of the day — a
377-yard drive on the 14th.
“Killed it. Absolutely killed it,” Woods told caddie
Steve Williams.
He also killed his eagle putt, and missed the 4-footer coming
back for a three-putt par.
Tway doesn't have that kind of length — not many do —
but is no less capable of stealing Woods' thunder outside the
Magic Kingdom.
He didn't reach any of the par-5s in two, but Tway made five of
his six birdie putts from inside 15 feet and looks poised to end
a four-year victory drought.
Woods, meanwhile, will try to become the first player since Tom
Watson in 1980 to win six times on the PGA Tour — he also
won in Germany in May, giving him six titles worldwide.
“I'd like to get six, seven and eight would be nice,”
he said, looking ahead to the Tour Championship and the World
Golf Championship tournament in Spain. “I'm pleased with
the way I'm playing.”
DIVOTS: Steve Elkington, 33rd on the money list, had a 71 and
is four strokes out of fourth place. He needs to finish at least
that high to get into the Tour Championship, played on his home
course in Houston. ... Mark O'Meara became the first casualty
of the final World Golf Championship event, saying he is better
off taking two weeks to regroup than make another trip across
the Atlantic. “I feel bad I'm not going, but you can only
do so much,” O'Meara said. David Duval has also said he probably
won't go to Valderrama, although he left open the possibility
if he has a chance to win the money title. ... Scott Hoch plans
to play somewhere next week. Hoch, who had a 67 on Saturday and
was tied for 10th, needs to finish at least fourth to have a chance
to make the Tour Championship. Just in case he doesn't, he signed
up for the Southern Farm Bureau Classic in Mississippi.
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