Scott scrambles to share of lead
Adam Scott took a drop on an awkward slope, then slouched into a squat after taking his swing and watched the ball land on the green.
That impressive recovery for a bogey at No. 9, after hitting his tee shot under a tree and into the water, was part of a scrambling round of 1-under-par 69 Saturday in the Byron Nelson Championship that was enough to keep him tied for the lead with Trevor Immelman at 11-under 199.
Despite three more bogeys on the back nine, Scott held a share of the lead for the third straight day at Irving, Texas.
Immelman, who lost a playoff to Jim Furyk in the Wachovia Championship last week, had a bogey-free 64 on the 7,052-yard TPC at Las Colinas. Furyk missed the cut this week after moving to fifth in the world ranking.
Brett Wetterich (70) was a stroke back at 10-under 200. Charley Hoffman (65), Chad Campbell (65), Joe Ogilvie (69) and Omar Uresti (69) were tied for fourth at 202.
Scott, the 25-year-old Australian who two years ago became the youngest winner of The Players Championship, has led after 54 holes three previous times.
He had the outright lead each time, and won each time.
A 54-hole leader has won 16 of 18 PGA Tour events this year.
Plus, all of Scott’s victories came on TPC courses, the last the 2004 Booz Allen Classic at the TPC at Avenel. He got an unofficial victory last year when the Nissan Open was shorted to 36 holes by rain.
Arron Oberholser shot a 72, including a double bogey on the 18th hole, a day after shooting a tournament-record 60, to finish at 4-under 206. He missed a chance to become only the fourth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59 when he his 15-foot birdie on the final hole Friday curled and stopped short.
Immelman had a chance to match Scott for the lead at the 196-yard 17th, but his 13-foot birdie putt slid right of the hole and he settled for par to remain 11 under.
At that time, Scott was at No. 15, where he missed the fairway and the green, and was 64 feet from the pin. He hit 7 feet past, but saved par to stay at 12 under.
But when Scott got to the 17th, his tee shot landed in a bunker fronting the green. He blasted a shot to 6 feet, but pushed the par putt a foot past the hole.
LPGA
The smile is polite, but cautious, when it’s suggested that Karrie Webb is all the way back to being one of the best golfers in the world.
One year after going winless for the first time in her career, the two-time player of the year isn’t ready to proclaim her problems solved and her comeback complete.
“It’s just I’ve learned how fickle this game is and how fine the line is between playing really good and maybe not so good,” Webb said after a 5-under 66 gave her a five-shot lead over three players in the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Va.
“I’m going to ride the good side of the line for as long as I can.”
Even she sees similarities between now and when she was at her peak.
“It feels good to have that little bit of confidence and have that trust in my game to just go out there and produce the quality of shots that I used to see,” she said.
She’s ridden it for three rounds so far, and left the trio of Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr and Pat Hurst with an enormous challenge if they expect to fight for the win.
“You’re talking about a player that doesn’t really back down, so basically it seems like we’re playing for second, but you never know,” Hurst said.
Webb was methodical, steady and not at all flashy, the same characteristics she used when she was winning three money titles and player of the year in 1999 and 2000.
Already a winner in the season’s first major – the Kraft Nabisco – and runner-up in her two of her last three events before this weekend, Webb is second on the money list and looking more and more like the player who once ruled women’s golf.
“I felt pretty in control today,” she said, adding her comfort level and confidence haven’t been this high since she won easily in Chicago in 2004.
This time, with top-ranked Annika Sorenstam already gone after missing the cut for the first time since 2002, Webb’s 13-under 200 total looks imposing.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 69 and is tied for 19th at 212.
Champions Tour
Bobby Wadkins followed his course-record 62 with an even-par 71 to take a three-stroke lead over Craig Stadler and John Harris after the second round of the Boeing Championship at Destin, Fla.
Wadkins, winless on the Champions Tour since 2001, had three birdies and three bogeys to finish at 9-under 133 total on The Raven Golf Club course.
Stadler (65) and Harris (66) were 6 under, and Loren Roberts (68) and Curtis Strange (71) were another stroke behind at 5 under. Roberts won the first three events of the year and leads the tour’s money list.
Stadler and Strange ran into trouble on No. 17, with Stadler taking a double bogey and Strange dropping three strokes with a triple bogey.
Strange had pulled within a shot of Wadkins with his second steady round, until he put a pair of shots into the water at 17 to drop four back.
British Masters
Paul Casey shot a 2-under 70 for a two-stroke lead over Michael Campbell after the third round at Sutton Coldfield, England.
Casey entered with a three-stroke lead after two bogey-free rounds. He bogeyed the third and last holes, but added five birdies to stay in front of Campbell, the U.S. Open champion, who shot 68.
Casey is at 13-under 203. Darren Clarke birdied the last hole for a 70 to hold third place.