Golf

Divots

By BOB HARIG
Published July 23, 2006

Divots

Buckle Up: Australia's Andrew Buckle was the last player to get into the field, and he has taken advantage, finishing three rounds at 3 under par. The Nationwide Tour player was in the United States when he got word Tuesday that Trevor Immelman would withdraw due to the birth of a child. So Buckle scrambled to get here in time for the first round. Unfortunately, he had to leave his regular caddie, Andrew Murphy, behind. Buckle did not have enough credit to charge two last-minute tickets to England. "He's pretty annoyed sitting over there," Buckle said.

Jesper's World: Jesper Parnevik had a dream that he was going to win the British Open. Unfortunately for Parnevik, he did not even get in the tournament. But he was so certain of his destiny that he arrived from Sweden to take one of the alternate positions on the chance that he'd get in. It didn't happen. Parnevik practiced on the course Wednesday, then arrived early Thursday to wait all day just in case enough players dropped out, but Immelman was the only one.

Quotable

"One less than the guy who comes second." - Argentina's Angel Cabrera, tied for fifth and two shots behind Tiger Woods, when asked the score he believed he would need to win.

Stat of the Day

Sergio Garcia posted the only bogey-free round Saturday and just the fourth of the tournament. He has gone 23 holes without a bogey.

Around Hoylake: Woods is seeking to become the first player to win back-to-back Open Championships since Tom Watson in 1982-83. ... With a victory, Woods would join Phil Mickelson as the only players to have won a major title in each of the last two seasons. Mickelson has one in three straight years. ... A Woods victory would tie him with Walter Hagen (11) for second on the all-time major championship list as a professional, leaving only Jack Nicklaus and his 18 ahead of him. ... Garcia's front-nine 29 was the 11th in Open history. The record is 28 by Denis Durnian in 1983 at Royal Birkdale. Els was the last to do so, shooting 29 in 2002 at Muirfield. ... John Senden, who won the John Deere Classic last Sunday, made an ace at the 198-yard, par-3 13th. He used a 6-iron.

[Last modified July 23, 2006, 01:54:51]