Love’s Ryder Spot Won’t Be Easy

Davis Love III has been on every U.S. Ryder Cup team since 1993, and chances are he’s going to make it again this time, even if he doesn’t qualify on points.

Love twice holed bunker shots for birdies, shot a one-over-par 73 in Saturday’s third round at Medinah Country Club and is tied for 18th at six-under 210 at the PGA Championship. He needs to finish in eighth place alone to make it on points, but it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Tom Lehman, the U.S. captain, to pick him.

The other likely candidate seems to be Stewart Cink. Lehman will reveal his choices Monday morning.

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Joey Sindelar holed a three-wood from 241 yards out at the 537-yard, par-five fifth for the third double eagle in PGA Championship history.

“You know, they’re all luck,” Sindelar said. “There’s always plenty of guys that hit good shots into par fives in two and nothing happened, but every once in a while, it happens. It was a huge thrill.”

Gary Evans was the last to make a double eagle, or albatross, in a major, when he did it at the 2004 British Open at Royal Troon.

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The oddest swing of the week (Jim Furyk always being in a separate category) belongs to Ryan Moore, who had wrist surgery in March, and is forced to lift his club straight ahead of him and parallel to the ground, then go into his backswing. It might be unorthodox, but it worked fine for Moore, who shot a 67 Saturday and is at six-under 210.

“It’s a little unusual, but it’s the only way I can really swing right now without my hand having a fairly sharp pain,” said Moore, the 2004 U.S. Amateur champion. “But I’m just trying to somehow make it work for this week, and it’s been working.”

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After two so-so rounds, Retief Goosen shot a 68 and began feeling good about himself again. Goosen has only one top-10 finish since he tied for third at the Masters and that was at the Wachovia the first week of May.

He’s ranked fifth, but he missed the cut at the U.S. Open and tied for 14th at the British Open.

“It’s a bit of everything at the moment,” Goosen said, explaining his problems. “I’m not hitting it well, not putting it well.”

Goosen is tied for 21st at 211.

“I’ve got maybe half a chance,” he said.

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With so many players near the lead, the PGA of America has to think ahead, so there’s a plan in place for a multi-player playoff today. If two or more are tied after 72 holes, a three-hole, aggregate-score playoff starts, at the 16th, then the 17th and 18th. If two or more players are still tied then, the playoff would continue in sudden death, at the 18th, then back to the 16th, 17th and 18th.

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The weather forecast for today’s fourth round has been upgraded to patchy early morning fog, then partly sunny and breezy in the afternoon, with the high temperature expected to reach 78 degrees.

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NOW YOU KNOW

In the 39 PGA Tour tournaments in which Tiger Woods has held at least a share of the lead after three rounds before this week’s PGA Championship, he has won 36 times, including an 11-0 record in majors. The three times Woods stumbled:

* Quad City Classic, Sept. 15, 1996 -- In his third professional tournament, Woods led Ed Fiori by a stroke after three rounds but shot a two-over-par 72 to finish fifth, while Fiori shot a 67 to win.

* The Tour Championship, Nov. 5, 2000 -- Tied for the lead with Vijay Singh after 54 holes at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, Woods fell victim to Phil Mickelson’s final-round 66 and finished two strokes behind.

* The Tour Championship, Nov. 7, 2004 -- Again at East Lake, Woods rallied to tie Jay Haas for the third-round lead, only to shoot a two-over 72 and allow Retief Goosen to come from four shots back to win.

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Los Angeles Times

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HOLE OF THE DAY: NO. 17

* Yardage: 198.

* Par: 3.

* Stroke average: 3.3.

* Rank: 1st.

* Key fact: The par-three over water played as the toughest hole on the course. But Tiger Woods and Luke Donald didn’t have any trouble with it, each making birdies to tie for the lead at 14 under par.

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Associated Press