Sabbatini gets his duel with ‘new Tiger’ today

Rory Sabbatini met one goal Saturday. He gets another shot at Tiger Woods.

Sabbatini got his mistake out of the way early at the Bridgestone Invitational, settling down after a double bogey to salvage a two-over-par 72 and a one-shot lead over Woods, a five-time winner at Firestone.

Woods dropped out of a share of the lead with a bogey on the 18th hole, but he still managed a 69 and left himself in good shape to win this World Golf Championship event at Akron, Ohio, for the third straight year.

Sabbatini was at four-under 206, the highest score for a 54-hole leader at Firestone since it became a WGC event in 1999.

Kenny Perry had a 71 and was the only other player under par at one-under 209.

Sabbatini and Woods verbally sparred this spring starting at the Wachovia Championship, where Woods rallied from one shot behind the South African to win. Five days later, Sabbatini said he thought Woods looked “as beatable as ever.” And while he said Woods can be scary when he’s on his game, he liked “the new Tiger” better.

Woods responded the next day by mentioning he had three victories in 2007, as many as Sabbatini had in his career.

What kind of fireworks will today bring? “He’s trying to obviously think of ways to motivate himself,” Woods said. “A lot of guys don’t really externalize it. We all say things like that inside, and he’s just trying to gain any kind of edge mentally when you’re out there playing.”

Steve Flesh shot a three-under 69 and has a five-shot lead over four players after three rounds of the Reno-Tahoe Open. . . . D.A. Weibring shot a six-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Jim Thorpe after two rounds of the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship at Blaine, Minn. Weibring’s 36-hole score of 13-under 131 is a tournament record.