ESPN.com - Golf Online - Tour Championship 2000 - Woods dusts Duval, takes share of lead

Associated Press
Saturday, November 4

ATLANTA -- Each round of the Tour Championship brings out a new rival for Tiger Woods. The only ones who matter are not at East Lake Golf Club, but in the record books.

And Woods is only 18 holes away from joining them.


	Tiger Woods has only lost once when having at least a share of a lead after 54 holes.

After knocking down the flags and then getting a few good bounces out of the trees, Woods blew away David Duval on Saturday and finished with a 4-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Masters champion Vijay Singh.

A victory Sunday -- and Woods has won 19 straight PGA Tour events when leading after 54 holes -- would put him in the books with Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead as the only players to win 10 times in one year.

"I moved up in the standings, and that's the whole idea," Woods said.

Despite a three-putt from about 30 feet on No. 17, Woods finished tied with Singh at 10-under 200 on an East Lake course that was softened slightly by afternoon showers.

Woods and Singh share at least one thing in common: Both can post a good score and complain about it. Singh might have had reason Saturday, missing only one green and a lot of birdie chances in his round of 65.

"I'm disappointed with a 65 -- how about that?" Singh said.

Phil Mickelson saved par on the last two holes with putts of 20 and 12 feet and also had a bogey-free 65 to finish one stroke out of the lead. The only other player who can keep the final round from becoming a three-man race is Ernie Els.

He bogeyed the 18th for a 68 and was four strokes out of the lead.

"It will be a fun day for a few guys," Mickelson said.

There's rarely a dull moment when Woods is involved. Three of his first four birdies came from inside 18 inches, including an 8-iron that nearly went in the hole on the par-3 sixth. Even his bad shots were interesting -- two on the back nine bounced through the trees and into the first cut of rough, away from danger.

Duval?

Healthy and inspired by playing in the final group with Woods, he floundered on the back nine and wound up with a 74, dropping him seven shots out of the lead.

"I didn't get many breaks today," Duval said. "I got an awful lot of breaks for a long time a few years ago, but this year a lot of breaks haven't gone my way."

He was paired with Woods for the sixth time in their careers, and Woods has outplayed him on the last five occasions.

Next up for Woods is Singh, and they also have some baggage. Two weeks ago in the Presidents Cup, Singh's caddie had "Tiger Who?" stitched into the back of his cap for their singles match, which Woods won, 2 and 1.

Singh joked that he would fire caddie Paul Tesori if he did the same thing Sunday.

"My goal is to go out and win tomorrow," Singh said. "If I hit the ball like I am and make some putts, nobody is going to beat me."

Then again, Singh has reason to be so optimistic. He hasn't made a bogey over his last 22 holes and has fond memories of East Lake, having lost in a playoff to Hal Sutton two years ago in the Tour Championship.

But history favors Woods when it comes to the final round. The only time he lost in that situation was against Ed Fiori in the Quad City Classic, his third tournament as a pro.

"I enjoy playing in that position," Woods said. "I enjoy having the lead because that means you can afford to make a mistake."

He made his share of those in the third round, along with a number of exquisite shots. He took the lead at 11 under with a beautiful flop shot out of the dense rough on the par-5 15th, the ball stopping 2 feet behind the hole.

Duval, meanwhile, couldn't get anything going. He laid down a challenge Friday afternoon, saying he wanted to "show him I can play, too."

But it was Woods who came out firing, making birdie on four of his first six holes.

Duval went from a one-stroke lead to chasing Woods by the time they got to the fourth tee, and it didn't get any better. He hit short of the green, and Woods continued to apply the heat with an approach that spun back and stopped 6 inches from the cup.

What followed was symbolic of the round -- Duval tending the flag as Woods tapped in his birdie putt. He was supposed to be a challenger, but looked more like a caddie.

They matched birdies on the par-3 sixth -- Duval from 20 feet, Woods from 3 inches after nearly making a hole-in-one -- but that was the last one for Duval. Two strokes off the lead going to the back nine, his game collapsed amid bad shots and bad breaks.

As was the case last week at Disney, however, Woods isn't the only player to beat, even in a limited field such as the top 30 money-winners on the PGA Tour.

Singh, who owns the only major Woods failed to win, birdied the first two holes, surged into the lead with three straight beginning with No. 8, then closed out with eight straight pars.

"If Tiger plays better than me, there's nothing I can do about it," Singh said. "I can't worry about how he plays or how Phil is going to play. I'm just going to worry about how I'm playing. And right now, I'm pretty comfortable with the way I'm playing."