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Golf
February 28, 2003
CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Tiger Woods hasn't made a bogey and is playing better than anyone at La Costa. All that meant Thursday was he advanced to the third round of the Match Play Championship, same as 15 other guys.
As rain pelted the players and inundated some greens, Woods hit a 5-iron approach into 3 feet and 2 inches on consecutive holes and was never challenged in a 4-and-3 victory over K.J. Choi.
"When you're playing in conditions like this, you don't want to ever give your opponent a hole," Woods said. "You know if you don't make any mistakes, you're more than likely going to win the match. That's what I tried to do the last couple of days."
Other players have taken different routes.
Defending champion Kevin Sutherland made a par on the 18th hole by playing down the first fairway, but still beat Justin Rose of England 1-up.
Phil Mickelson hit a tee shot into the hazard on No. 14, but it struck a rock and came out into the rough. He wound up holing a 35-foot putt from off the green for par on his way to a 3-and-2 victory over Brad Faxon.
David Toms was on the ropes against Chris Riley until he holed a 90-foot chip for birdie on the 18th hole using a 3-wood. He won 1-up.
Darren Clarke tied the tournament record with the most lopsided victory, 7 and 6, over Davis Love III.
No matter how they got it done, all of them start from scratch again today. Woods takes on Stephen Leaney, Sutherland faces Adam Scott, Mickelson plays Jerry Kelly, Toms meets Alex Cejka and Clarke tackles Jim Furyk.
Sutherland improved to 8-0 at La Costa with an unusual par on the 18th. He was in the trees and figured his best route was down the adjacent first fairway, but he had no idea how far he had left.
His caddie, John Wood, walked about halfway to the green, did some quick calculations and came up with 165 yards to the hole. Sutherland's 6-iron shot stopped 20 feet from the hole for a two-putt par and a 1-up victory.
CHRYSLER CLASSIC: Eleven months after a life-threatening illness changed his perspective on life and golf, Dicky Pride shot 7-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley after the first round of the PGA Tour event in Tucson.
"It's just delightful. ... I mean, just the whole year I'm trying to feed off the positive things that have happened to me, and I've been playing well," said Pride, playing on a sponsor's exemption.
Pride missed four months of last year's tour after he doubled over in pain while eating dinner at a friend's house just before the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando last March. He spent a month in an Orlando hospital recovering from gall stones and pancreatitis.
The experience left him less obsessed with the game. "Definitely I'm easier on myself," he said.
WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Laura Davies is off to a good start in her bid to win a second straight tournament. With 7-under 65 in the wind, she took a one-shot lead over Valerie Van Ryckeghem after the first round in Sydney.
JACOB'S CREEK OPEN: American Roland Thatcher and Australia's Jarrod Moseley shot 6-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the Nationwide Tour event at Adelaide, Australia. The tournament is the first under the PGA Tour's five-year deal with Nationwide, which replaced Buy.com as the title sponsor.