VALDERRAMA, Spain, 31 October 2004 — Scotland’s unheralded Alaistair Forsyth stunned the Spanish fans when he snatched a three shot lead over hometown favorite and overnight leader Sergio Garcia in the third round of the Volvo Masters yesterday.
Garcia, who has led the championship since Thursday’s first round, began the day one-up over the 28-year-old Scot but the Spaniard faltered over the inward nine and began to fall back.
Forsyth, with only one European Tour win to his name and ranked a lowly 130th in the world carded a third round four-under 67. Garcia, ranked 10th in the world, had a level par 71.
Play was suspended for nearly 80 minutes when a thunderstorm swept in and Garcia found himself in the unlikely position of being two back.
When Forsyth birdied the first hole after play resumed Garcia was three behind and struggling to stay in touch. He managed to close the gap back to two but Forsyth, with a hot putter, continued to keep the pressure up and a birdie on 17 saw him stretch his lead back to three again.
England’s Ian Poulter, playing in the group behind, was making his move and went to six-under for the championship when he birdied the infamous par-five 17th where Darren Clarke carded a horrendous 11 on Friday.
Poulter is desperate to win here this week, his final chance of the season.
Clarke, despite his 11 on Friday, is still in line for a major check when he shot a three-under 68 to go to level par and lie in eighth spot.
South Africa’s Trevor Immelman gave himself an outside chance when he shot a three-under 68 to got to two-under.
Byrd Joins Sluman Atop Chrysler Championship Leaderboard
In Palm Harbor, Florida, Jonathan Byrd carded his second straight 66 on Friday to join fellow American Jeff Sluman atop the leaderboard midway through the five million-dollar Chrysler Championship.
Byrd’s 10-under total of 132 put him tied for first with Sluman, who started the second round with a two stroke lead after a course-record 62 on Thursday.
Byrd and Sluman head into the weekend with a two-shot lead over three golfers, including the world No. 1 Vijay Singh.
Fiji’s Singh, Tommy Armour and Australian Rod Pampling were on 134. Armour put together the best round of the morning with a bogey-free 64 that included seven birdies.
Pampling fired a 65 and Singh, who would become the first player to top $10 million in earnings in a season with a solo sixth-place finish or better, fired a 69.
Park, Golden Share Second-Round Lead in Korea Golf Classic
In Jeju, South Korea’s Grace Park and Kate Golden of the United States shared a two-stroke lead after the second round of the $1.35 million CJ Nine Bridges Classic yesterday.
Both Park and Golden finished at nine under par 135. Golden, winner of 2001 State Farm Classic, fired six birdies without a bogey and fired an eagle at the 18th hole to card 64 at the 6,306-yard, par-72 course on the southern resort island of Jeju.
Park, who won the Craft Nabisco Championship in March and has 10 top-three finishes this year, scored four birdies but dropped a bogey on eight.
Three players were tied two strokes behind the leading pair at 137. They were Jill McGill of the United States and Korea’s defending champion Ahn Shi-Hyun and Kang Soo-yun.
