Date: March 17, 2008
Author:

Jones falls back as Tiger soars

Tiger Woods took a giant leap towards his sixth consecutive victory when he charged into a tie for the lead after the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods, who started the day seven strokes behind halfway leader Vijay Singh, made his move with a tidy four-under-par 66 in gusty winds at Bay Hill. That was enough to lift him into a five-way tie at six-under with Singh (73), Sean O&aposHair (63), Bart Bryant (68) and Bubba Watson (68), one stroke better than Hunter Mahan (65). Matt Jones is the leading Australian in a tie for 32nd at even-par following a two-over round of 72. Geoff Ogilvy is a further stroke back at one-over, while Steve Elkington is at three-over and John Senden four-over. Woods would have been happy simply to cut the deficit to two or three shots, so he was delighted to wipe it out completely as he tries to extend his six-month winning streak. “I was on the periphery there (but) now I&aposm right back in the mix,” said Woods, who has won his past four starts on the PGA Tour, as well as one tournament on the European Tour. O&aposHair, seeking to win back-to-back tournaments, had the lowest round of the tournament, while Singh fought back after a horror stretch during which he dropped five strokes in four holes on his way to the turn. Lee Westwood managed to hold his round together as he twice carded back-to-back bogeys but one birdie on the front nine and another coming home reduced the damage. He signed for a 72 to drop to four-under but remain in the top 10. Third Round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Par 70): -6: Sean O Hair 72 69 63, Tiger Woods 70 68 66, Bart Bryant 68 68 68, Bubba Watson 67 69 68, Vijay Singh 66 65 73 -5: Hunter Mahan 68 72 65 -4: Nick Watney 69 67 70, Tom Lehman 66 69 71, Cliff Kresge 67 68 71, Lee Westwood 66 68 72, Ken Duke 67 67 72 -3: Tom Pernice Jr 73 66 68, Brian Davis 75 64 68, Vaughn Taylor 68 67 72, Jim Furyk 67 67 73, Carl Pettersson 68 65 74 -2: Steve Marino 75 67 66, Fredrik Jacobson 71 70 67, Dicky Pride 71 70 67, Frank Lickliter II 69 71 68, Brandt Snedeker 70 70 68, Pat Perez 73 65 70, Alex Cejka 67 70 71, Chad Campbell 68 68 72 Also: E: Matt Jones (Australia) 70 68 72 1: Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 72 69 70 3: Steve Elkington (Australia) 74 68 71 4: John Senden (Australia) 70 72 72