Date: March 22, 2008
Author:

Ogilvy leads as Tiger lurks

A five-under 67 round has seen Geoff Ogilvy hold his lead at the CA Championship into the weekend, although the Australian is coming under some heavy pressure from Tiger Woods. Indeed Woods was poised to extend his astonishing winning streak after finishing day two at the Blue Monster course in Miami just one stroke behind Ogilvy. The world No. 1, who has won his past seven tournaments, moved into position for another victory, carding two eagles in a six-under-par 66 in a testing easterly breeze at the Doral Resort. Woods finished in style with birdies at his final two holes, sinking a sharply-breaking 20-footer at the last to punctuate another excellent day in the office, giving him an 11-under 133 halfway total. Australian Ogilvy shot a bogey-free 67 to lead on 12-under, with compatriot Adam Scott (68) in third place, three shots off the pace after bogeying the final two holes. The event took on the markings of a three-man race, with Swede Robert Karlsson, Dane Anders Hansen and Indian Jeev-Milkha Singh six shots back in a tie for fourth place. Woods, who played the par-five holes in a total of four under, believes they were the key to his round. “The par-fives are where you&aposve got to score,” he said. “With today&aposs wind, you could hit two (of them) with irons, so you&aposve got to make sure you take care of those.” “Play those in three or four under and the rest of the round in one or two under and you&aposre looking pretty good.” This World Golf Championships event has become Woods&apos own personal property. He has won it six times in eight attempts, on six different courses. He started on Friday two strokes behind overnight leaders Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, but it did not take long for that to change as he eagled his third hole, the par-five 12th, with a 40-foot bunker shot. “I had a simple little bunker shot and kept telling myself to make sure I hit it hard enough,” he said. “When it landed, I thought that looks pretty good and about two feet out it was centre cut.” He added a birdie at the par-four 16th, before picking up another eagle at the par-five first, where he busted a 330-yard drive before hitting a well-judged seven-iron that nestled up little more than six feet from the pin. Not that he was perfect, dropping a shot at the dangerous par-four third where, in making sure he avoided the water lurking right of the fairway, he pulled his drive behind a tree and had little choice but to lay up with his second shot. But that was the first and only blemish on his card as he finished with typical aplomb to stamp his authority on the tournament. Woods has not lost in more than six months, winning five times on the PGA Tour, as well as the European Tour&aposs Dubai Desert Classic and his own unofficial Target Challenge. Ogilvy, meanwhile, played in relative peace and quiet, far from the maddening crowds tracking Woods. He was not quite at the peak of his game, but had no complaints about a 67. “I didn&apost hit the ball quite as well as yesterday but I got up and down really well,” he said after remaining bogey free for the tournament. Scott, meanwhile, had an up and down day on Doral&aposs greens, posting seven birdies and three bogeys in his four-under 68 score. Indeed, Scott could be alongside Woods in second had he not bogeyed his last two holes of the round. For the rest of the Australian contingent tackling the Blue Monster, Nick O&aposHern had a disastrous day, posting a three-over 75 to slump down the leaderboard and head into the weekend at two under overall. O&aposHern is one stroke ahead of Aaron Baddeley (74) and two ahead of Robert Allenby (75) and Stuart Appleby (71), while Paul Sheehan (+1, 73), Richard Brown (2, 72), Mark Brown (+3, 74) and Brendan Jones (+7, 75) were further back in the field. -12: Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 65 67 -11: Tiger Woods 67 66 -9: Adam Scott (Australia) 67 68 -6: Robert Karlsson 68 70, Jeev Singh 68 70, Anders Hansen 67 71 -5: Miguel Jimenez 65 74, Steve Stricker 71 68, Mark Calcavecchia 68 71 -4: Soren Kjeldsen 69 71, Luke Donald 68 72, Andres Romero 68 72, Retief Goosen 71 69, Chapchai Nirat 70 70, Jim Furyk 69 71, Stewart Cink 66 74, K J Choi 70 70, Woody Austin 70 70, Tim Clark 71 69 Also: -2: Nick O&aposHern (Australia) 67 75 -1: Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69 74 E: Robert Allenby (Australia) 69 75, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 73 71 +1: Paul Sheehan (Australia) 72 73 +2: Richard Green (Australia) 74 72 +3: Mark Brown (Australia) 73 74 +4: Craig Parry (Australia) 73 75 +7: Brendan Jones (Australia) 76 75