SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods made his 2014 debut in a most dubious fashion - his first trip to Torrey Pines without sticking around for the final round.
Woods went seven consecutive holes making bogey or double bogey and wound up with a 7-over 79 in the Farmers Insurance Open to match his worst score on American soil. For the first time in his career, he missed a 54-hole cut that is in effect when more than 78 players make it to the weekend.
Gary Woodland didn’t have to overpower the par 5s to take the lead Saturday.
Woodland made five birdies on another tough day of scoring on the South Course for a 2-under 70. That gave him a one-shot lead at 8 under over 20-year-old Jordan Spieth (75) and Marc Leishman of Australia (72) going into today’s final round.
A dozen players were separated by only three shots going into today, including San Diego native Pat Perez and Ryo Ishikawa of Japan.
Woods had to rally just to break 80.
After a poor chip on the par-3 eighth hole (his 17th of the third round), he chipped in to save par. On the par-5 ninth hole, he flubbed another chip to about 8 feet and made that for par and a 79.
Asked for a comment by CBS Sports, Woods said, “No, I’m done.” He signed a dozen autographs, climbed into a van and was driven away.
Woods didn’t make a single birdie on a par 5 over three rounds. In fact, he played them in 4 over.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 1-over 73 and sits in a tie for 47th at even par. David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) had a 3-over 75 Saturday and is nine shots behind Woodland. Bryce Molder (Conway) made the final cut by a stroke after a 5-over 77. He is 3 over for the tournament.
LPGA Choi leads by 1
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas - Na Yeon Choi shot a 7-under 66 on Saturday 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 (Arkansas Razorbacks) 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-yearold 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.
EUROPEAN PGA
Garcia wins in Qatar
DOHA, Qatar - Sergio Garcia birdied the third extra hole to beat Mikko Ilonen in a playoff Saturday and win the Qatar Masters for his second victory in three events.
Garcia entered the round three shots behind overnight leader Rafa Cabrera-Bello but birdied six of his last 12 for a 7-under 65, forcing Ilonen to make an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force the playoff with a 66. They both finished on 16-under 272.
Garcia missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the last that would have given him the win in regulation, and then couldn’t make an eagle putt for the victory on the first playoff hole.
The Spaniard and Ilonen both had birdies on the second extra hole as well before Garcia sealed the victory with a tap-in birdie at the third to Ilonen’s par.
Cabrera-Bello only managed a 69 and fell to a tie for third with Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark (68).
European No. 1 Henrik Stenson finished strongly with birdies on his last four holes for a 67 that put him in a tie for 28th - perhaps a good sign at the end of a disappointing tournament ahead of next week’s Dubai Desert Classic.
Despite getting out to 8 under after the first two rounds, John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 1-over 73 Saturday after a 77 on Friday. Daly finished in a tie for 61st place, 14 strokes behind Garcia.
Leaderboard PGA FARMER’S INSURANCE OPEN s-Torrey Pines South Course (Par 72, 7,698 yards) n-Torrey Pines North Course (Par 72, 7,052 yards) San Diego Third round on South Course Gary Woodland 65n-73s-70-208 Marc Leishman 66n-71s-72-209 Jordan Spieth 71s-63n-75-209 Pat Perez 67s-71n-72-210 Morgan Hoffmann 72s-66n-72-210 ARKANSANS Tag Ridings 73s-70n-73-216 David Lingmerth 72s-70n-75-217 Bryce Molder 77s-65n-77-219 - Complete scores, Page 11C
Sports, Pages 29 on 01/26/2014