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Westwood Takes Two Stroke Lead into Open Finale
Open "Learning Curve" for Kapur
Woods Confident Despite Past Catch-Up Misery
Westwood Takes Two Stroke Lead into Open Finale
GULLANE, July 20, 2013 (AFP) - Lee Westwood will take a two-stroke lead into Sunday's climax to the British Open after he and Tiger Woods duelled for the lead throughout Saturday's third round.
Playing together in the penultimate pairing, they both quickly sped past overnight leader Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and then went head-to-head over the mighty Muirfield links on another sun-drenched afternoon.
At the end of it, 40-year-old Englishman Westwood was the winner thanks to a pivotal 17th hole when he birdied, while Woods bogeyed for a two-stroke swing.
"I played nicely. I didn't hit too many bad shots. I controlled well once I hit it well. I made some good saves. Short game was sharp. Made some nice putts," was Westwood's verdict on his day's work.
"I'll think about winning The Open Championship tonight at some stage, I'm sure. I don't see anything wrong with that, picture yourself holding the Claret Jug at the final tee and seeing your name at the top of the leaderboard.
"When it comes to tee off around threeish, I should be in the same frame of mind as I was today. I didn't feel any pressure and felt nice and calm out there and in control of what I was doing."
Woods said that he was pleased with his round and would now look to use his experience to try and win his 15th major on Sunday, over five years after his last triumph.
"I've got 14 of these things, and I know what it takes to win," he said.
"I'm pleased where I'm at. I'm only two back. There's only one guy ahead of me," he said.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge of it. I've been in this position before, in the past five years, and I've been in the mix. And I'm in it again."
Hunter Mahan of the United States was the only other player to stay under par, by the smallest of margins, thanks to a 68 and he will go out with Westwood in the final pairing on Sunday.
Woods will partner Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia, who was alone on level par after a 70.
Asked if past experiences would help him cope with being in the final pairing on Sunday Mahan replied: "I think it does. Because I think it can be overwhelming at times.
"Being in the first or second, last groups there, to have everybody following you and seeing all the scores and everything, it can be overwhelming. But there's no rules in this game, you can kind of do whatever you want."
On a day of fluctuating fortunes, the best golfers in the world again grappled with the deep pot bunkers, bouncy fairways and super-fast greens that are the mark of the famed East Lothian links.
Some succeeded and will contest for golf's supreme title on Sunday, others failed and will make up the numbers in the final round.
At the start of the day Jimenez was leading by one with a quartet of Woods, Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson breathing hotly down his neck.
In the space of two holes Woods was ahead thanks to a 18-foot birdie putt followed by a missed four-footer from Jimenez minutes later.
Westwood then went on a charge, sinking a monster putt for eagle from the edge of the fifth green and adding a birdie at the seventh to lead by three.
But he bogeyed the next two holes, and he and Woods made the turn tied at two under.
Westwood nudged ahead again thanks to a majestic mid-iron approach shot to six feet at the 14th, but a wayward four-iron at the par-three 16th saw the duo back level again.
The final twist came at the par-five 17th where Woods bunkered his second and took a bogey while Westwood chipped and single-putted for a birdie and a two-stroke swing.
If the record books are anything to go by that could be a fatal blow to Woods who has never won a major when trailing going into the final round.
For Westwood it will be the chance to finally win a major trophy at the 62nd time of asking and he would be the first Englishman to win The Open since Nick Faldo did so at Muirfield 21 years ago.
Finishing the day at one over par was a quartet of Stenson (74), Angel Cabrera of Argentina (73), and Americans Zach Johnson (73) and Ryan Moore (72).
Still well in contention were four-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who had a 72 to stand at two over, level with Francesco Molinari (72), with Sergio Garcia (68), Brandt Snedeker (69) and Jason Day (72) among those perched on three over.
Defending champion Ernie Els had a 70 to get to five over.
Open "Learning Curve" for Kapur
GULLANE, July 20, 2013 (AFP) - Shiv Kapur of India described the third round at the British Open as a learning curve when he carded a disappointing 12-over-par 83 on Saturday.
Kapur, who qualified for the tournament at the Local Final Qualifying in Dunbar two weeks ago, enjoyed a dream start when he briefly led at Muirfield courtesy of a sensational 30 on the front nine.
However, he failed to rediscover his opening round magic.
"You will have your good and bad days. You aren't always going to have a great day. Sometimes the bad ones are tough to take. It is not something you plan or hope for. You have to take it on the chin and move ahead," said Kapur.
The Indian got off to a poor start when he was eight-over after six holes before adding four other bogeys on his way home for 15-over-par 228.
"I got off to a rough start and got bunkered a lot. The plan was to stay away from as many bunkers as possible but I kept hitting it into bunker after bunker. I wasn't even in the middle of the bunker. I was either on the lip or the back of the bunker," said Kapur.
"I made two triple bogeys on my front nine, had a lost ball on six and when you are eight over after six holes, you know it is not going to be a good day.
"You just try and salvage something out of your round. That's the nature of the game," said the Indian.
Kapur will have nothing to lose in the final round where he hopes to make a move in the right direction on the leaderboard.
"I might be a little bit aggressive off the tees because I'm in a nothing to lose situation. I guess I need to get to know links golf a little better. Major championships are tough learning curves. That's why they are so tough to win and to play well," he lamented.
Woods Confident Despite Past Catch-Up Misery
GULLANE, July 20, 2013 (AFP) - Tiger Woods has never done it before, but he believes he can do it Sunday in the final round of the British Open.
All of the American's 14 major titles were won when he was either leading, or was tied for the lead going into the last 18 holes.
He has never won one when trailing as he will be at Muirfield, two strokes behind England's Lee Westwood.
After firing a one over 72 on Saturday in the company of Westwood, who had a 70, Woods said that he was happy with his position going into the final round.
"I'm pleased where I'm at. I'm only two back. There's only one guy ahead of me. And tomorrow, we'll see what they do tomorrow," said Woods.
"I've got 14 of these things (majors), and I know what it takes to win it.
"He (Westwood) has won tournaments all over the world. He knows how to win golf tournaments. He's two shots ahead and we're going to go out there and both compete and play.
"It's not just us two. There's a bunch of guys who have a chance to win this tournament. And all of us need to really play well to win it."
Woods briefly held a solo lead on Saturday when he sunk an 18-footer for birdie at the second, but he was quickly overtaken by a fiery Westwood.
The world number one got back on level terms by the turn and it looked like it might stay that way until he fired his second shot at the par-five 17th into a bunker and came away with a bogey to Westwood's birdie.
That left him tied for second with Hunter Mahan and dropped him down to the penultimate pairing for Sunday in the company of Masters champion Adam Scott.
Overall though, he said he was happy with a round that saw him pluck his driver out of the bag for the first time in the tournament.
"For me I was trying to grind along and play my own game, regardless of what Lee was doing or what anyone else was doing," he said.
"This golf course is a tough test and I was just trying to execute my own game plan. And wherever that ended up, it ended up. And I ended up 1-over par, which wasn't too bad."
Again there was no sign of any discomfort with the left elbow injury which he worsened at last month's US Open and caused him to rest up until Muirfield.
And now, he was looking forward to going down the stretch on Sunday in search of a 15th major title, over five years after he won the US Open at Torrey Pines.
"I've been in this position before, in the past five years, and I've been in that hunt. And I'm in it again. Hopefully tomorrow I can play well and win the tournament."
Collated third round scores in the 142nd British Open played at par-71 Muirfield on Saturday:-
210 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 72-68-70
212 - Hunter Mahan (USA) 72-72-68, Tiger Woods (USA) 69-71-72
213 - Adam Scott (AUS) 71-72-70
214 - Ryan Moore (USA) 72-70-72, Zach Johnson (USA) 66-75-73, Ángel Cabrera (ARG) 69-72-73, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 70-70-74
215 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69-74-72, Phil Mickelson (USA) 69-74-72
216 - Brandt Snedeker (USA) 68-79-69, Sergio García (ESP) 75-73-68, Miguel Ángel Jiménez (ESP) 68-71-77, Dustin Johnson (USA) 68-72-76, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-73-72, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 74-71-71, Jason Day (AUS) 73-71-72
217 - Rafael Cabrera (ESP) 67-74-76
218 - Johnson Wagner (USA) 73-72-73, Justin Leonard (USA) 74-70-74, Richard Sterne (RSA) 75-75-68, Ernie Els (RSA) 74-74-70, Martin Kaymer (GER) 72-74-72, Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-71-75
219 - Danny Willett (ENG) 75-72-72, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 73-74-72, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 75-68-76, Shingo Katayama (JPN) 73-77-69, Keegan Bradley (USA) 75-74-70, Matt Kuchar (USA) 74-73-72, Jordan Spieth (USA) 69-74-76, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 75-71-73, Darren Clarke (NIR) 72-71-76
220 - Bud Cauley (USA) 74-75-71, Ken Duke (USA) 70-77-73, Harris English (USA) 74-71-75, Tom Lehman (USA) 68-77-75, Bubba Watson (USA) 70-73-77, Todd Hamilton (USA) 69-81-70, Grégory Bourdy (FRA) 76-70-74, Webb Simpson (USA) 73-70-77, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 71-74-75, Paul Lawrie (SCO) 81-69-70, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 74-76-70, Steven Tiley (ENG) 72-75-73
221 - K.J. Choi (KOR) 76-74-71, Y.E. Yang (KOR) 78-70-73, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 79-71-71, Boo Weekley (USA) 74-76-71, Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 73-73-75
222 - Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (ESP) 70-79-73, Fred Couples (USA) 75-74-73, Mark O'Meara (USA) 67-78-77, Richie Ramsay (SCO) 76-74-72, Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 76-70-76, Martin Laird (SCO) 70-71-81, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 72-75-75, George Coetzee (RSA) 76-71-75, Branden Grace (RSA) 74-71-77, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 75-75-72, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 73-76-73, Mark Brown (NZL) 77-73-72
223 - Shane Lowry (IRL) 74-74-75, Peter Senior (AUS) 74-76-73, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 73-74-76, Jonas Blixt (SWE) 72-78-73, Stewart Cink (USA) 72-75-76
224 - Josh Teater (USA) 72-76-75, Russell Henley (USA) 78-71-75, Gareth Wright (WAL) 71-78-75, Tim Clark (RSA) 72-76-76, Graham DeLaet (CAN) 76-72-76, Jimmy Mullen (ENG) 71-78-75
225 - Oliver Fisher (ENG) 70-78-77, Chris Wood (ENG) 75-75-75, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 73-75-77, Jason Dufner (USA) 72-77-76, Ben Curtis (USA) 74-71-80
226 - Bo Van Pelt (USA) 76-73-77, Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 72-78-76, Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) 73-76-77
227 - Kevin Streelman (USA) 74-71-82
228 - Shiv Kapur (IND) 68-77-83, Sandy Lyle (SCO) 76-72-80