Monday, August 26, 2013

Tiger Woods retains seven-stroke lead at Bridgestone Invitational

Tiger Woods retains seven-stroke lead at Bridgestone Invitational

By Kyle Porter | Golf Writer
Tiger Woods is way out front of the field at the Bridgestone Invitational. (USATSI)
Tiger Woods is way out front of the field at the Bridgestone Invitational. (USATSI)
More Golf: Leaderboard | Rankings | Schedule | Expert Picks | Equipment | FedEx Cup
If "cruise control" is a club then Tiger Woods will likely stuff it in his bag on Saturday night in front of Sunday's final round at the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods backed up his second-round 61 with a 68 in the third round and will take a seven-stroke lead over Henrik Stenson as they head to Sunday.
After his round Woods downplayed his third straight day under par.
"Today was a day that I didn't quite have it, but I scored. Just tried to build on my lead somehow. I was just trying to post something in the red. It was blowing today, I figured anything in the red would be a good number."
I'm convinced that if he could figure out a way to shoehorn all his birdies for any given week into his Thursday and Friday rounds, the man would never lose a tournament. He was just striding around the course on Saturday, doing what he does best -- protecting a monster lead.
The odds on him winning are currently -7500. That means you have to wager $7,500 on Tiger to win the tournament to win a measly $100. That's how much of a sure thing this is.
And as Justin Ray of ESPN pointed out a win here would be Woods' 18th at a World Golf Championships event.
The next closest golfer (Geoff Ogilvy) has three wins.
Woods missed out on his all-time 54-hole PGA Tour record of 20 under, but not by a lot. Here's a look at his scorecard:
The back nine was a little sloppy at the end but some world-class scrambling and a chip-in on No. 13 were sufficient to get him to the last 18 holes with nary a worry.
Woods has only lost once when leading by more than one after 54 holes -- that was to Y.E. Yang at the 2009 PGA Championship.
The real history Woods is chasing (other than Sam Snead's 82 PGA Tour win record) is this:
That's absurd.
And I'm guessing his record when taking a seven-stroke lead to the final round of tournaments he's won seven times is, um, solid.
Woods said after his round "hopefully I can seal the deal tomorrow."
I don't think that will be an issue.
For more golf news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnGolf and @KylePorterCBS on Twitter or Google+ and like us on Facebook.

No comments:

Post a Comment