GRAND BLANC, Michigan, 7 August 2006 — Tiger Woods birdied two of his final three holes to grab a two-shot lead in the Buick Open third round and move within sight of his 50th career title on Saturday.
The world No. 1 , fresh from his British Open triumph, made a dubious start with a bogey at the second but was flawless the rest of the way, hitting seven birdies to post a third successive 66 for a total of 18-under 198.
Lurking just two shot back were Americans Lucas Glover and Scott Verplank and Australia’s Robert Allenby, who all returned 66s under ideal scoring conditions at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club to get to 16-under 200.
Certainly the odds favor Woods’ bid for a milestone title, the 11-times major champion having won 35-of-38 events he has led going into the final round. “Some of it’s luck,” said Woods, when asked about his record.
Woods said he would try to continue playing the way he has been in Sunday’s final round.
“You have to make a bunch of birdies,” Woods said. “I think it’s just a matter of plugging along and trying to make as many birdies as you possibly can when you have the opportunity, because you know you have to.”
Two-times defending champion Vijay Singh moved into contention for an unprecedented third consecutive and fourth Buick title with a four-under 68 to headline a group of five players sitting just three off the lead. Joining the Fijian at 15-under 201 were Canadians Mike Weir (68) and Stephen Ames (66) and Americans Joe Durant (67) and Vaughn Taylor, who shot a best-of-the-day 63 to rocket up the leaderboard. With a second Buick victory on Sunday the 30-year-old Woods would become the youngest golfer to reach 50 career PGA Tour wins, replacing Jack Nicklaus who got to the milestone when he was 33.
Playing his first event since capturing his 11th major a Hoylake, Woods has continues to strike the ball superbly though he has also enjoyed some luck at Warwick Hills. On the 18th hole on Saturday his wayward tee shot hit a spectator and bounced back out on to the fairway.
