Cink Takes Lead From Woods, Love

Stewart Cink kept plugging away with a few clutch pars and enough birdies that he figured would keep him close to the lead. The surprise came when he glanced at a scoreboard and saw who he was chasing Saturday in the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

It wasn’t Tiger Woods.

Before long, it wasn’t even Davis Love III.

Cink was steady as Woods and Love took turns stumbling on Firestone South, shooting a six-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead over Woods, Love and Paul Casey of England in the World Golf Championship event.

“I was a little surprised because it’s Tiger Woods and the way he’s playing lately,” said Cink, who is at nine-under 201 for the tournament. “But the way the course is, even the great Tiger Woods can make some bogeys out there.”

Woods made four straight bogeys -- his longest such streak on the PGA Tour in nearly 10 years -- and went from a two-shot lead to five shots behind in a span of six holes. He managed a smile at the end of the third round because Love also let everyone back into the tournament by losing a three-shot lead.

Woods finished at one-over 71, ending his streak of 11 consecutive rounds in the 60s and 17 consecutive subpar rounds.

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Bob Estes and Will MacKenzie opened up some breathing room at the Reno-Tahoe Open in Nevada.

Estes shot a four-under 68 and MacKenzie a five-under 67 in the third round of the $3-million event and are tied for the lead at 19-under 197.

Their closest pursuer is John Cook, who played with Estes and MacKenzie and is four shots off the lead.

On Friday, Yusaku Miyazato had two holes in one. PGA Tour officials believed it was a first but learned Saturday that W.W. Whedon accomplished the feat in the first round of the 1955 Insurance City Open in Wethersfield, Conn.

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Bobby Wadkins and Lonnie Nielsen share a one-stroke lead going into today’s final round of the Tradition in Aloha, Ore., the season’s final major on the Champions Tour.

Wadkins shot a 71 Saturday for an 11-under 205 after the first three rounds on the par-72, 7,150-yard course at the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club west of Portland.

Defending champion Loren Roberts had a 68 and is at 10 under. Tom Jenkins and Tom Kite each had 70s and were three strokes off the lead.

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Lorena Ochoa shot an eight-under 64 to take a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Wendy’s Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio.

The 24-year-old from Guadalajara stands at 17-under 199 heading into the final round, which will start early to avoid a predicted thunderstorm.

Her third-round score was one off the competitive-course record at Tartan Fields Golf Club.

Jee Young Lee shot a 68 and was at 201, with Stacy Prammanasudh and Ai Miyazato another two shots back.

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Richie Ramsay withstood his second penalty in two days to hold off Webb Simpson in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

Ramsay will play University of Missouri senior John Kelly today with the chance to become the first player from Scotland to win the U.S. Amateur since Findlay Douglas in 1898.

Ramsay was 2-up on Simpson, a Wake Forest junior, with three holes to play when he was penalized for hitting the ground on a practice stroke in a hazard area. The ruling automatically awarded the hole to Simpson, but Ramsay hung on over the final two.

Kelly beat Ryan Yip of Canada, 2-and-1.