Woods Works Fast to Overtake Kelly

Storms left only two hours of daylight Sunday for Tiger Woods to start chasing down Jerry Kelly in the Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

He didn’t even need that long.

With a birdie-eagle start, including a chip-in for eagle from 90 feet on a shot he had been practicing for the Masters at Augusta, Woods made up the two-stroke deficit and then surged ahead with a 10-foot birdie on the ninth hole as darkness fell.

“It just feels good to end the day like that, end on a positive note,” Woods said.

All that’s left now to win the only prestigious event that has eluded him are nine holes over a rain-softened course, with Kelly and Masters champion Vijay Singh only one stroke behind.

Bernhard Langer was another stroke back.

“There are four guys with a legitimate chance to win,” said Woods, who had a 33 on the front nine and was at 12-under par. Twenty-two players will return to finish the tournament this morning.

Rain pelted the Stadium Course right after Woods and Kelly went out to the practice range, suspending the final round for 2 hours 52 minutes and leading to the second straight Monday finish.

A year ago, Hal Sutton built a three-stroke lead before the rains came, returned on Monday and held off Woods to win by one.

Singh, in great form with his Masters defense only two weeks away, had the lead until missing the ninth fairway and taking a bogey.

Langer, who hasn’t won a PGA event in four years, had three birdies on the soft Stadium Course course to remain in contention.

“I would have loved to play on because I was feeling comfortable with my swing,” Singh said. “But you can’t do anything about it.”

Kelly, trying to become the first player to earn his first tour victory in the Players Championship, wasn’t backing down, either.

“I didn’t play my best today and I’m right there,” he said. “I feel pretty good about the state of my game, that I can be in the eye of the hurricane and play pretty well.”

Kelly had said he would not be intimidated, that Woods was just another player who had as much pressure--if not more--to win the $6 million tournament.

When the gallery returned from the rain delay and crammed into the amphitheater around the first tee, it sounded like the start of a heavyweight fight.

Woods’ approach from 155 yards didn’t go an inch past that, stopping six feet left of the hole for birdie. Kelly came up short of the ridge and had to make a par putt from equal distance.

Half of his two-stroke lead was gone after one hole.

Next up was the 532-yard second hole, where Kelly appeared to get the advantage when his snap hook went through the rough and on top of the pine straw, enabling him to hit a clear three-wood to about 25 feet for an eagle putt.

Woods was left in the rough, couldn’t reach the green but left himself in a good spot to the right. Chipping back toward a back-left pin some 90 feet away, the ball skipped up the ridge and trickled in for eagle as the crowd roared.

“It was reminiscent of the chip I was practicing last night back in the chipping area,” Woods said.

“I was practicing those type of shots and getting ready for Augusta. It’s the same chip you would find on No. 11, if you bail out to the right--kind of chip it across the green.”

Kelly then two-putted for birdie and shared the lead for the first time since late Friday morning.

“This is what it’s all about,” Kelly said. “He’s going to make shots like that. I can only get better watching that.”

Two holes later, Woods had the lead for the first time all week.

*

Mike McCullough defeated Andy North on the first hole of a playoff to win the Emerald Coast Classic at Milton, Fla., his second Senior PGA Tour victory in a month.

McCullough two-putted for par on the par-four 18th hole in the playoff, while North narrowly missed a 20-foot par putt after hitting his tee shot into a bunker.

McCullough, who won the Mexico Senior Classic on Feb. 25 for his first victory in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since becoming a touring pro in 1973, earned $210,000.

Up Next

PGA

Thursday through Sunday--BellSouth Classic, Duluth, Ga.

LPGA

April 12-15--City of Hope Classic, Wilshire Country Club.

SENIOR PGA

Friday through Sunday--Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, St. Augustine, Fla.