Woods Is Trailing, but in Style

Tiger Woods reminded everyone what all the fuss of Tigermania was about when he closed Saturday’s third round of the Doral-Ryder Open at Miami with a sensational shot from a fairway bunker.

On a windy day, Woods again showed his flair for the dramatic when he nearly holed a choked-down, 148-yard seven-iron from a lie below his feet in a bunker on the last hole.

He tapped in the resulting birdie putt for a 71, leaving him three strokes behind leader Michael Bradley.

“How about that one?” Woods said with a huge smile after the ball nearly went in on the fly. “Oh man, you’ve got to love it.”

Bradley, meanwhile, battled a bad back and the swirling wind to create some drama of his own, shooting a 70 to be at nine-under-par 207, two strokes better than Stewart Cink.

Mike Brisky, Woods and Billy Mayfair, who beat Woods in a playoff at the Nissan Open last week, were at 210. Another five players, including Vijay Singh, were at 211.

If not for his putter, Woods would have had the lead.

He had an 18-footer for eagle on the first hole and three-putted, missing from 3 1/2 feet. He also missed birdie tries under 10 feet on Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 17.

“I had a lot of makeable putts,” Woods said. “I just didn’t make them. I was stroking it all right but I wasn’t reading them right.”

Bradley also closed with a great shot, hitting a punch seven-iron from 152 yards to eight feet to get his birdie on No. 18.

Cink had a chance to share the lead but bogeyed the final hole for a 71.

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At Doha, Qatar, England’s Andrew Sherborne shot a four-under 68 to maintain his two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Qatar Masters.

Sherborne, who shot a 64 to take the lead Friday, had his first bogey of the tournament on the par-four 11th, but he finished with a birdie on No. 18 for the second consecutive day to finish at 15-under 201.

The 36-year-old Sherborne, bidding to win his first tour title since the 1992 Spanish Open, said Saturday’s round was a struggle.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as I was on Friday,” he said. “I started and finished well, but it was just the bit in the middle that concerned me.”

Scotland’s Andrew Coltart shot 65 and Patrik Sjoland of Sweden a 67 to tie for second at 13-under 203. Paolo Quirici of Switzerland, Ian Woosnam of Wales and Dutchman Rolf Muntz were another three strokes back.