SAN DIEGO (AP) - Gary Woodland didn’t have to overpower the par 5s to take the lead at Torrey Pines.
Woodland found his five birdies elsewhere Saturday on another tough day of scoring on the South Course for a 2-under 70, giving him a one-shot lead over 20-year-old Jordan Spieth and Marc Leishman of Australia going into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
That final round won’t include a familiar figure.
Defending champion Tiger Woods, an eight-time winner at Torrey Pines, went seven straight holes making bogey or worse on his way to a 79. That not only matched his highest score on American soil, he failed to make the 54-hole cut.
Woods had said at the start of the week that he hasn’t seen Torrey this tough since the U.S. Open he won in 2008. It sure looks that way.
Spieth had a one-shot lead to start the third round and it was gone quickly. He missed a 30-inch par putt on the opening hole and took a double bogey on No. 5. His biggest putt might have been a 6-footer for par on the 14th, and Spieth looked confident the rest of the way to salvage a 75.
Leishman had a relatively boring round of 72 on a gorgeous day along the Pacific - one birdie, one bogey, 16 pars. That might be what it takes on this monster of a course that features rough that might even make the USGA blush. The average score on the South through three rounds is 74.24, compared with 74.97 during the U.S. Open. And the field for the Farmers Insurance Open is nothing but PGA Tour or European Tour players.
Woodland was at 8-under 208. It was the highest 54-hole score to lead this tournament since Dave Rummells at 4-under 212 in 1993.
BAHAMAS LPGA CLASSIC
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) - Na Yeon Choi shot a 7-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic, chipping to a foot to set up a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.
The seventh-ranked Choi, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour, birdied three of the last four holes in her bogey-free round to reach 15 under on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course.
Lizette Salas was a stroke back. She also had a bogey-free 66.
Jessica Korda and Paula Creamer each eagled the 18th to reach 12 under. Korda, the second-round leader, had a 72, and Creamer shot 71. Creamer also eagled the par-5 11th, but had a triple-bogey 8 on No. 15.
Third-ranked Stacy Lewis was tied for fourth at 11 under with Amelia Lewis and Jenny Suh. Stacy Lewis had a 68, Amelia Lewis shot 66, and Suh had a 71.
Michelle Wie and 16-year-old Lydia Ko were in the group at 10 under. Wie followed her second-round 65 with a 72. Ko, making her first start as an LPGA Tour member, had a 71.
QATAR MASTERS
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Sergio Garcia won the Qatar Masters for his 11th European Tour title, beating Mikko Ilonen with a birdie on the third hole of a playoff.
Garcia closed with a 7-under 65 to match Ilonen at 16-under 272. Ilonen had a 66, making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force the playoff.
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