Another 66 for Woods as U.S. Defeats Sweden

L.A. Times Archives

Oct. 11, 1998 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Tiger Woods shot his second 66 in three days at St. Andrews, Scotland, on Saturday and lamented that he wasn’t playing in the British Open.

“I wish it were this week,” he said of the Open, which returns to St. Andrews in two years.

Woods’ latest six-under-par round gave him a seven-stroke victory over Mathias Gronberg on the Old Course, lifting the United States to a 2-0 victory over Sweden to reach the semifinals of the Dunhill Cup teams championship, where it will meet Spain.

Playing third after John Daly had edged Per-Ulrik Johansson by one stroke and Mark O’Meara tied Patrik Sjoland with a 68, Woods said he was playing the Old Course in the way he had always wanted.

“I’m more experienced [on] links courses now, and it’s starting to show,” he said. “I have learned a lot over the last two years, and I have always said that this type of golf on these courses is better than in the States. There are more options. You have to be very creative.

“Today I would hit the ball to within 20 feet of the flag and I was happy. If I got to within 16 feet I was ecstatic. These are things we don’t find at home in the States.”

Led by Jose Maria Olazabal, Spain downed Scotland. The other semifinal matches Australia, led by former PGA champion Steve Elkington, and South Africa, whose team includes two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els.

The semifinals and final will be contested today.

Defending champion David Duval rallied late in the third round to maintain his one-stroke lead in the $1.8-million Michelob Championship at Williamsburg, Va.

Duval, the leading money-winner on the PGA Tour with more than $2 million, shot a three-under 68 and was at 13-under 200 through 54 holes.

A two-stroke swing on the 15th hole, where he birdied and New Zealand’s Phil Tataurangi bogeyed, gave Duval sole possession of the lead for the rest of the day.

Unheralded Gary Hallberg replaced Tataurangi as Duval’s closest pursuer. The 40-year-old Hallberg, whose last win came at the 1992 Southern Open, carded a five-under 66 and was 12-under overall. Tataurangi finished with a 69 and was 11-under. Neither golfer is among the top 150 on the money list.

David Lundstrom birdied the final six holes in a four-under 68 that left him in a three-way tie for the lead after two rounds of The Transamerica senior tournament at Napa, Calif.

“How about that?” he exclaimed. “I ran out of holes.”

After falling to three over par on No. 8, Lundstrom recovered with the big finish and was at seven-under 137, tied with Hugh Baiocchi and Jay Sigel.

Kelly Robbins capitalized on a woeful day by Se Ri Pak, firing a five-under 67 to reassume the lead in the LPGA Tournament of Champions at Opelika, Ala.

Robbins, the first-round leader, birdied seven holes to finish the third round at 10-under 206. She has a four-stroke lead over Sherri Steinhauer, who shot a 70.

Pak, who led by two strokes after Friday, went from seven-under to even-par as her second-round lead evaporated under a 79. A day after her string of 103 holes without a bogey ended, Pak bogeyed seven times. She didn’t have a birdie.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

In Front

Leaders on the major tours after Saturday’s play (Complete scores, D18):

$1.9-MILLION MICHELOB

CHAMPIONSHIPS-Par 71

David Duval: 65-67-68-200 -13

Gary Hallberg: 68-67-66-201 -12

Phil Tataurangi: 65-68-69-202 -11

Frank Lickliter: 66-67-70-203 -10

$750,000 TOURNAMENT

OF CHAMPIONS-Par 72

Kelly Robbins: 66-73-67-206 -10