SPORTS
Roswell Daily Record
Sunday, April 24, 2011
B5
Donald a round away from No. 1 HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Luke Donald was more concerned about who was behind him at The Heritage than what’s ahead should he win Sunday. Donald shot a 1-under 70 on Saturday to take a one-str oke leader over defending champion Jim Furyk after three rounds at Harbour T own Golf Links. A victory would vault the thir d-ranked
Donald to No. 1. Donald knows if he thinks too much about that, he’ll lose sight of the stellar field trying to chase him down. “I think there’s a bunch of people behind us that have a good chance, too, so I don’t count anyone else out,” he said. “It should be a good battle out there.” It usually is with Donald and Furyk. Furyk, the American
ranked 13th in the world, used a par save from the bunker on the 72nd hole to win the Tour Championship by a stroke over Donald last year and claim the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus. Donald came right back the next week, beating Furyk 1-up in Ryder Cup singles in Europe’s victory. “I got a little revenge,” he said. This time the prize for
Donald would be two-fold: His first season with multiple wins on the PGA Tour and the elevation to No. 1 in the world. There were seven of the world’s top 20 players her e this week, a field str ong enough to push Donald past the idle No. 1 Martin Kaymer and No. 2 Lee Westwood. Westwood would take the top spot with a win at the Indonesian Masters,
AP Photo Jim Furyk drives the ball down the ninth fairway during the third round of The Heritage golf tournament in Hilton Head Island, S.C., Saturday.
wher e he holds a fivestroke lead, should Donald falter. The two Englishmen exchanged messages about their play. “Yeah, he sent me a message yester day just saying, ‘Good playing,’ and I sent one back,” Donald said. “We’r e obviously R yder Cup partners and we’r e friends of f the course. We never wish bad on each other.” Donald let a few early nerves show through by hitting his appr oa ch to par -5 second hole out of bounds left, leading to a double-bogey 7 that dr opped him fr om the lead. But Donald steeled himself with two solid par saves on the thir d and fourth holes when his iron play was shaky. He was in the r ough in fr ont of a trap on par -4 third, yet chipped it up to 6 feet for the par. Then, Donald was well right of the green on the par -3 fourth. Again, he saved himself with the short game, chipping inside of 2 feet. Donald r egained his momentum on the par -5 fifth with a 12 footer for birdie. “Those up-and-downs and keeping some momentum going where I wasn’t going completely backwar ds was big for me,” Donald said. Brendon de Jonge (66) and Scott Verplank (67) were two shots behind at 9 under. Masters runner-
up Jason Day (71), Ricky Bar nes (67) and Tommy Gainey (67) were 8 under. Furyk held the lead for much of the back nine at Harbour Town Golf Links, but bogeyed the closing lighthouse hole for a 69 to drop back. Donald, who won the Match Play Championship and was fourth at the Masters, called on the steady, focused style that made him one of the world’s best to move back to the top with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. Donald’s put his approach on the 16th hole to 3 feet for his final birdie to reach 11 under. Furyk had his chance to hold on to a share of the lead, but sent his second shot on the 18th hole into a bunker behind the green, and could not make the 16-footer for par after blasting out. Furyk and Donald will be pair ed in the final gr oup Sunday for what sets up as a fabulous finish in what might be the final Heritage. A PGA Tour fixtur e since 1969, the tournament is without a title sponsor, which tour and event leaders say is essential for returning in 2012. Both have become Harbour Town masters, combining for 14 rounds in the 60s over the past three tournaments. “I think I’m there, I’m in position and when I play well I feel like this golf course r eally suits my game,” Furyk said.
Levi-Fergus, Senior-Lyle share lead at Legends SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — War m, dry weather made for prime scoring conditions at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on Saturday and teams did their best to take advantage in the betterball event. Wayne Levy and Keith Fergus shot 12-under 60 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. They shared the lead at 20under 124 with Peter Senior and Sandy L yle, who combined for a 61 heading into Sunday’s final r ound on the island course in the Savannah River. “You almost feel like you have to make at least a par on every hole,” Senior said. “When you do make a bogey, you feel like you’ve dr opped back two. It’s like a doublebogey in other tournaments.” Playing downwind, several of the Champions Tour players almost were able to drive the 338-yard first hole. “The fact that the balls are running, especially on the par -5s, is certainly a factor in so many birdies,” Fergus said. Still, it was the shorthitting Levi who sparked the team’s surge. He holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie at the ninth and then on No. 11 hit a 3-wood to within 30 feet and sank the putt for an eagle on the 530yard, par-5. “If we can put two balls on the greens (in regulation) and have a chance at birdie, we’ll be in pr etty good shape,” said Levi, whose last win on the senior circuit came in 2004. There were plenty of big-name players within striking range of the leaders. Kenny Perry and Scott Hoch shot a 62 and
were a stroke behind in a tie with first-round co-leaders Tom Kite and Gil Morgan, who had a 63. Bob Tway and T om Pernice Jr. (62) birdied the last three holes to get to 126. They were tied with Ian Baker Finch and Joe Ozaki (62), Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman (62), and first-round co-leaders T ed Schulz and Gary Hallberg (64). T om Watson and Andy North (62) wer e tied at 127 with Hal Sutton and Larry Mize (64). Watson and North have 10 majors between them, eight by Watson. “It’s going to take 29 or 30 under to win this,” L yle said. “You can’t stop, or people will be going right past you.” Ireland’s Des Smyth and England’s Mark James shot 63 for 9under 126 to win the 36-hole Raphael Division. The teams of Ben Crenshaw-Curtis Strange (64) and Gary Koch-Roger Maltbie (63) tied for second at 127. John Cook and Joey Sindelar withdrew from the Legends Division because Sindelar’s bad back. Sindelar injur ed it last week during a tournament in Tampa, but felt well enough to start this event. However, he was in pain after four holes Friday and left the course. Cook played the last 14 holes alone and had the team just thr ee strokes off the lead with a 65. After the round, Sindelar indicated he might be able to play, but he changed his mind early Saturday. Cook said he would have played on as a single for Satur day’s round, but didn’t feel it was fair to finish the tour nament that way.
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