Woods' Lead Cut In Half

Tiger Woods leads Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang by two shots through three rounds at Hazeltine National

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) -- Tiger Woods is one round away from winning another major, with more company than he wanted.

Equipped with a four-shot lead Saturday at the PGA Championship, Woods played conservatively on another windy afternoon at Hazeltine until his lead was gone. Only at the end of the day did he find some solace.

One birdie on the back nine was enough for a 1-under 71. It gave him a two-shot lead over three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang.

Woods has never lost a major when leading going into the final round.

Only once in his career has he lost any tournament when leading by two shots or more.

"I played conservatively today," Woods said. "I didn't give myself a lot of looks. I was lag putting a lot. The only putt I really missed was on the three-putt. Other than that, it was a good, solid day.

"Given the conditions and my position in the tournament, I didn't mind it."

He was at 8-under 208, finishing just as the rain arrived in Minnesota.

Harrington surged into a share of the lead with four birdies over an eight-hole stretch in the middle of the round, catching Woods with a 7-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 14th. Right when it appeared they would be paired in the final round for the second straight week, Harrington made his only bogey of the round by going over the 18th green and failing to save par.

He wound up with a 69, and much greater hopes of defending his PGA title than he had starting the day.

"The narrower the gap, the better," Harrington said. "If I have to take four shots and I've taken two the first day, I suppose we're halfway there. Obviously, to get a win, you've got to beat him by three tomorrow. That's a tall order. But as I said, everybody in the situation who is behind is going to think, 'Well, we have nothing to lose.' You've got to have that attitude."

Woods will play in the final group with Yang, who matched the best round of the tournament with a 67. Yang won his first PGA Tour event earlier this year at the Honda Classic, although the 37-year-old from South Korea is better known for taking down Woods at the HSBC Champions in China three years ago.

They weren't playing in the same group in 2006, however. And this will be Yang's first time contending in a major.

"It will be my first time playing with him, so I'll try not to go over par," he said with a smile. "But I've been looking forward to it. I've thought about playing with Tiger recently. Surprised it came true so fast."

Woods' four-shot lead was his largest in a major after 36 holes since he led by five at St. Andrews in 2005. Just like that British Open, his margin was cut to two shots going into the final round.

Suddenly, there are other challengers to try to stop Woods from winning his 15th career major, and first of the year.

Henrik Stenson, who captured The Players Championship in May, had a 68 and was in the group at 4-under 212 along with U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (71).

Ernie Els pulled within one shot of the lead until he finished with three straight bogeys, leaving him with a 70 and five shots behind. He was disgusted with the end of his round, although the Big Easy spoke for so many others about the outlook Sunday.

Woods has never been beaten at a major when leading. But at least they have a chance.

"You could really feel that there's a real championship going on around you," Els said. "It's not a runaway deal. Looked like a runaway thing at the end of yesterday. But it looks like the guys are really set to give Tiger a go, and the crowd could sense that."

Woods, however, has a major advantage.

He has never lost in America when leading by more than one shot, and the only time anyone beat him from that position was Ed Fiori at the 1996 Quad City Classic, when Woods was a 20-year-old playing his third event as a pro.

Lee Westwood came from two shots behind to beat Woods in the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany in 2000.

Woods appeared to be on his way when he stuffed a short iron into 4 feet for birdie on the second hole. Then came a three-putt bogey on the par-3 fourth, which he left woefully short. He missed the fairway on three par 5s, which he could have reached in two from the fairway. Instead, he was aiming away from trouble, not willing to give away shots.

On this day, everyone was taking their best shot.

"I thought it was going to be playing a little bit more difficult today, but it wasn't," Woods said. "I just felt that with my lead, I erred on the side of caution most of the time. If I did have a good look at it, I took aim right at it. Otherwise, I was just dumping the ball on the green and two-putting."

The lead shrank quickly.

Glover pulled within two shots until he was slowed by a poor bunker shot on No. 10.

Harrington made his second straight birdie with a 20-foot putt on the par-3 eighth, rolled in a 6-foot birdie on the 11th and made a few solid par saves along the way to stay close to Woods. He caught him at the 14th, then tried to get to the clubhouse without any damage. He almost made it, but caught a flyer out of the rough and over the 18th green.

Woods wasted opportunities, and appeared to really blow a good chance when he drove just through the par-4 14th. His chip came out hot and through the green, against the collar. Unable to hit a proper chip or a putt, he used the blade of his sand wedge to roll the ball some 15 feet to the cup. It came out perfectly, and Woods showed fierce emotion when it fell for birdie.

Over his last hour, however, he couldn't wait to get off the course -- a terrible pitch at the 15th some 40 feet short, a 7-iron he pulled over the green and close to a TV tower, his hand flying off the club on the 17th.

Still, he wound up with the lead, and Woods wasn't about to trade that position with anyone.

For Powell, an honor long overdue

CHASKA, Minn. -- One can assume that when Bill Powell set out to build his Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio 63 years ago, he didn't do it with a gala evening in his honor in mind.

Instead, Powell was merely playing the hand he was dealt: denied a G.I. Bill because of his race after serving in World War II, Powell borrowed money from a pair of black physicians, and went on to become the only African-American to design, build, own and operate a golf course. That course, Clearview, now counts itself as one of 15 golf courses on the National Register of Historic Places, and Powell finds himself the recipient of this year's PGA of America Distinguised Service Award.

The 92-year-old great-grandson of slaves will be honored tomorrow night at a ceremony at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis, a scene that will stand in stark contrast to the unfair predicament Powell found himself in after the war.

After serving as a tech sergeant in the Air Force in England and Scotland, Powell returned to Ohio, where he was a star athlete in high school, and where he first learned golf as a 9-year-old caddie. None of that mattered when he applied for first the G.I. Bill and then a loan from a local bank. Both were denied, but Powell wasn't content to just fade into the scenery.

"I had just left a country where I was treated like a human being," he told the New York Times' Larry Dorman. "So how was I supposed to be satisfied to be treated like dirt?"

So with the financial backing of two doctors, Powell bought 78 acres of land and crafted the first nine holes of Clearview -- clearing brush, seeding fairways -- mostly on his own. Nine holes became 18 in 1978, and pretty soon, Powell had spawned his own mini-golf empire. His daughter, Renee, became the second African-American to compete on the LPGA Tour, and his son, Larry, is a member of the Golf Course Superintendents of America.

And of course, there is Clearview, where Powell's influence is ever-present, and where his Distinguished Service Award will surely hang in a prominent spot.

-- Sam Weinman

All's Fine

It turns out Tiger Woods wasn't fined for his remarks following his win on Sunday. But that didn't stop Woods and everyone else from talking about it some more on Tuesday

Tiger Woods didn't feel the need to backpedal from the remarks he made about a rules official.

CHASKA, Minn. -- When is the last time the words "Tiger Woods" and "slow play," and "fine" and then "no fine" were all used in the same discussion?

Chances are we've just heard the last of it. Woods said Tuesday that he's been in touch with officials from the PGA Tour and there is no fine assessed for his comments critical of a rules official on Sunday after winning the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.

All right, then just what do you think the tour official told Woods in their conversation? "Bad Tiger, don't do that again"?

Probably something like that, but Woods didn't back off an inch from his position that rules official John Paramor basically ruined a Woods-Harrington showdown when he put them both on the clock for slow play at the 16th hole. Woods made a birdie, Harrington a triple bogey and the tournament was all but over.

Woods said he wasn't sorry about mentioning Paramor by name over the slow-play issue.

"No, because he's the one who did it."

So there. Woods said others should have used better judgment, that it was the wrong way to have the tournament come to an end and also hinted that too much attention was paid to the telecast schedule of CBS.

"Unfortunately I guess we had to finish by 6 o'clock. I guess that was important."

The broadcast ended about 6:03 p.m.

And about 6:04 p.m., the incident called "Clockgate" began.

But now that the whole thing has begun to wind down, consider this: it's possible that even an allegation of slow play that involves Woods is actually a good thing.

The overnight rating for Woods' four-shot victory at the WGC Bridgestone was through the roof -- up 104 percent from last year when Woods didn't play because of his knee ligament replacement surgery.

You can even make a case that Woods not only shouldn't be fined, he should be given a bonus.

Look what he's done pumping the overnight network ratings. In his three previous tournament victories, all on CBS, the ratings were up 100 percent at the Memorial, up 180 percent at the AT&T National and up 164 percent at the Buick Open.

Throw in the boost at Bridgestone, and if that's what you get for mentioning slow play, then make Woods play when he is connected to a ball and chain next time.

As it turns out, the PGA Tour was quick to issue a four-sentence statement Tuesday after Woods' press conference at Hazeltine National. PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said that after reading what Woods had to say on Sunday, there was no disciplinary process started. Votaw also said the tour didn't find anything that was unreasonably disparaging in Woods' comments.

For his part, Harrington didn't feel much like getting involved again, saying he hadn't read anything that Woods had said. He did say that it was easier for Woods to comment because he won and that if Harrington had said the same thing, it would have come off as sour grapes. You have to say that's taking the high road.

Said Harrington: "Having lost the tournament, I'm going to take it on the chin and say it was my mistake ... what could I say?"

So let's get serious. As far as controversies go, this one should be just about timed out.

This one really did have a strange timeline, though. Woods-Harrington are put on the clock, Woods calls out Paramor, the AP cites an anonymous tour official saying Woods would be fined, Woods denies he's being fined, the tour says there's no fine. All in three days. Less stuff happens in most months. You know, we're all fine with this. Let's move on to something else, and something is sure to crop up soon, probably by Thursday when the first round of the PGA Championship will be played at long and grassy Hazeltine National. It's safe to assume Woods won't make any news on Wednesday -- he's not going to set foot on the course, except for the driving range and putting green.

It's worth noting that Woods, who has won four PGA Championships, is trying to win his third tournament in three weeks. He's done that just once before, probably because he rarely plays three weeks in a row. But in 1999, Woods won the Disney, the Tour Championship and the American Express.

There's a chance history will repeat itself. There's a smaller chance that "Clockgate" will do the same.

Woods and Harrington

CHASKA, Minn. -- The winners of the last three PGA Championships held back-to-back press conferences Tuesday at Hazeltine National. So what did the hungry hordes of reporters want to know about? Perhaps the most interesting responses came when each was asked about golf possibly being included in the 2016 Olympics.

"If I'm not retired by then, yeah," said Tiger Woods, who would be 40 at the time of the 2016 Summer Games, when asked if he would play if eligible. When pressed again if he would play, Woods acknowledged, "Yep." The remarks represented a shift for Woods who had previously been more noncommittal.

"I'd love to be an Olympian," said defending champ Padraig Harrington. "Doesn't that sound good? Imagine us being Olympic athletes."

For that to happen, golf first has to get in the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board is slated to recommend a pair of sports to be added in 2016, with word expected to come Thursday. Although golf has not been part of the Olympics since 1904, it is considered among the favorites for inclusion.

That would sit just fine with both Woods and Harrington, both of whom expressed solid rationale for adding golf to the Games.

"I think golf is truly a global sport and I think it should have been in the Olympics a while ago," said Woods. If it does get in, I think it would be great for golf and especially some of the smaller countries that are now emerging in golf."

Harrington not only touted the benefits to the game, but spoke of the natural fit between golf's sportsmanship and that of the Olympic games. "I think we have all the credentials to be Olympians," he said. "It seems like it was always destined to be an Olympic sport. I'm sure there are a lot of athletes out there that would never put golf as a sport, but trying to explain that to somebody that doesn't play golf, they will never understand what goes into golf. [But] golfers will see it as a natural sport for the Olympics."

Seems like two of the game's premier players have their eyes on a pair of prizes this week: the Wanamaker Trophy and Olympic gold.

-- E. Michael Johnson

For Powell, an honor long overdue

CHASKA, Minn. -- One can assume that when Bill Powell set out to build his Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio 63 years ago, he didn't do it with a gala evening in his honor in mind.

Instead, Powell was merely playing the hand he was dealt: denied a G.I. Bill because of his race after serving in World War II, Powell borrowed money from a pair of black physicians, and went on to become the only African-American to design, build, own and operate a golf course. That course, Clearview, now counts itself as one of 15 golf courses on the National Register of Historic Places, and Powell finds himself the recipient of this year's PGA of America Distinguised Service Award.

The 92-year-old great-grandson of slaves will be honored tomorrow night at a ceremony at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis, a scene that will stand in stark contrast to the unfair predicament Powell found himself in after the war.

After serving as a tech sergeant in the Air Force in England and Scotland, Powell returned to Ohio, where he was a star athlete in high school, and where he first learned golf as a 9-year-old caddie. None of that mattered when he applied for first the G.I. Bill and then a loan from a local bank. Both were denied, but Powell wasn't content to just fade into the scenery.

"I had just left a country where I was treated like a human being," he told the New York Times' Larry Dorman. "So how was I supposed to be satisfied to be treated like dirt?"

So with the financial backing of two doctors, Powell bought 78 acres of land and crafted the first nine holes of Clearview -- clearing brush, seeding fairways -- mostly on his own. Nine holes became 18 in 1978, and pretty soon, Powell had spawned his own mini-golf empire. His daughter, Renee, became the second African-American to compete on the LPGA Tour, and his son, Larry, is a member of the Golf Course Superintendents of America.

And of course, there is Clearview, where Powell's influence is ever-present, and where his Distinguished Service Award will surely hang in a prominent spot.