PACIFIC PALISADES – Saturday is always considered “moving day.” It’s usually a day when Tiger Woods moves up the leader board and gets in position to win on Sunday.
Yesterday at the Nissan Open, however, Woods moved in the wrong direction, carding a disappointing 2-over-par 73 to enter today’s final round 11 shots behind leader Charles Howell III.
Woods’ erratic day began on the driving range, where he said he “hit some of the worst shots I’ve hit in a while on the range.”
It got even worse on the 501-yard first hole, where Woods snap-hooked his tee shot so far left, it landed in the parking lot, but not out of bounds, near the television trucks.
That led to a double-bogey 7 on a hole that most players consider a birdie hole.
That double, combined with Friday’s double on No. 7, doomed Woods’ chance of winning here at Riviera, something he wants badly to accomplish. Barring a miracle, Woods will finish today without a victory here, making him 0-for-8 in this event, though he played his first two as an amateur.
Woods, who actually hit a 9-iron left-handed on the 13th hole near a tree, had a relieved look on his face when he closed out his round with a birdie.
“The suffering was over,” he joked. “IWe had a bet in the fairway, Stevie [Williams, his caddie] and I. If I make par he’s not caddying [today]. If I make birdie he’s caddying. That’s why he was throwing the club at me.
Asked what happened between a solid 68 on Friday and yesterday, Woods said, “I don’t know. Golf. That’s it. That’s as deep as I go.”
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How long is the waif-like Howell, whom one L.A. writer quipped “could hide in a garden hose?”
He hit a 4-iron more than 230 yards to 15 feet the 11th green and made the eagle putt and he hit 2-iron 276 yards to the 17th green.
Howell is no slouch on the greens, either, making 31 of 33 putts of 10 feet or less so far this week and 26 of 26 from seven feet and less.
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Still well in contention for today’s final round are K.C. Choi, who’s four shots behind Howell at 7-under, along with defending Nissan champion Len Mattiace and defending PGA champion Rich Beem, both of whom are five shots back at 6-under.
Round of the day was posted by Angel Cabrera, who matched the low score of the tournament with a 6-under 65. Most impressive, he shot 5-under on the back nine.