Date: September 13, 2009
Author: PA Sport

Woods fires, Leishman second

Tiger Woods was in pole position heading into the final day of the BMW Championship in Illinois after a course-record third round 62 at the Cog Hill club. The American had been tied at the top of the leaderboard with Mark Wilson overnight, but his fellow American fell away badly with a level-par 71 to find himself tied for sixth with Australian John Senden on seven-under. Senden had earlier held the clubhouse lead after his excellent round of 66. Australian Marc Leishman and American Brandt Snedeker are tied for second place at nine-under after rounds of 68 and 66 respectively. Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy are the next best Australians in a tie for 42nd, while Jason Day and Nathan Green are placed 56th and 61st respectively. Woods&apos impressive nine-under-par round featured a delightful eagle at the par-five ninth as he finished his round seven shots clear on 16-under-par. The world No.1&aposs round equals the tournament record set by Jim Furyk at Bellerive last year while the previous Cog Hill record had stood at 63. Woods is a four-time winner of the event. Woods believes momentum played a major part in his excellent round. “After I got past the first hole I was doing all right,” he said. “It was one of those days that kind of built upon itself.” “I&aposve always liked it this course. I played here even as an amateur in the old Western Open.” “I&aposve always felt comfortable playing this golf course. Even though the golf course has changed this year for us, the routing is still the same, and I&aposve always felt comfortable playing this golf course for some reason, and even though, for instance, they changed Torrey Pines South, I still feel comfortable on the property. And this is very similar to that.” Padraig Harrington continued his steady form in Illinois, adding a 69 to his previous two rounds of 68. That saw the Irishman head into Sunday&aposs final round sharing fourth with Matt Kuchar on eight under. European Ryder Cup pair Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia were tied for eighth with Jim Furyk on six-under. Meanwhile, Australia&aposs Scott Strange faltered in the third round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany. Strange, who was leading the tournament after Round 2 tumbled to 11th place after a two-over-par 74, which leaves him four strokes off the lead. Compatriot Rod Pampling shot a three-under-par 69 to climb 60 places to a tie for 21st. Peter Hanson could be the man to give Sweden their third successive victory on the European Tour when the final round gets underway on Sunday. After the victories for Peter Hedblom in Scotland and Alex Noren in Switzerland, the 31-year-old Hanson leads England&aposs Simon Dyson, Dane Soren Hansen and South African James Kingston by one stroke. If he goes on to win, it would also keep the trophy in Swedish hands. Robert Karlsson, unable to play this week because of an eye problem which has kept him out since May, triumphed by two last year. BMW Championships Round 3 -16: Tiger Woods 68 67 62 -9: Brandt Snedeker 69 69 66, Marc Leishman (Australia) 67 69 68 -8: Matt Kuchar 71 68 66, Padraig Harrington 68 68 69 -7: John Senden (Australia) 70 70 66, Mark Wilson 69 66 71 -6: Jim Furyk 70 70 67, Luke Donald 70 69 68, Sergio Garcia 71 68 68, Bubba Watson 69 68 70 -5: Ian Poulter 69 71 68, David Toms 68 71 69, Sean O Hair 70 68 70, Zach Johnson 73 65 70, Bo Van Pelt 67 69 72, Rory Sabbatini 66 70 72 -4: Kevin Na 72 72 65, Kevin Sutherland 75 67 67 Also: +3: Robert Allenby (Australia) 75 74 67, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 68 73 75 +6: Jason Day (Australia) 71 73 75 +7: Nathan Green (Australia) 73 74 73 Mercedes Benz Championship Round 3 -11: Peter Hanson 70 68 67 -10: Simon Dyson 68 70 68, Soren Hansen 65 71 70, James Kingston 67 69 70 -9: Henrik Stenson 70 68 69, Anthony Wall 69 70 68 -8: Anders Hansen 70 68 70, Paul Lawrie 68 71 69, Francesco Molinari 68 71 69, Chris Wood 66 69 73 -7: Niclas Fasth 70 67 72, Soren Kjeldsen 69 69 71, Scott Strange (Australia) 67 68 74 -6: Alex Cejka 70 72 68, Darren Clarke 70 70 70 , David Drysdale 67 70 73, Daniel Vancsik 69 72 69 Also: -4: Rod Pampling (Australia) 71 72 69 +9: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 75 75 75 +16: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 77 79 76