Aug11 USPGA Tiger set for No. 13

In the most clinical fashion, Tiger Woods accomplished what he set out to in round 3. “To shoot under par and increase my lead” was his stated aim, and he shot a 1-under-par 69 and increased his lead from two to three. If he doesn’t win his 13th major tomorrow it will be a major surprise to him, the field and the world.
Interestingly, he is paired with Stephen Ames tomorrow; the man who he beat 10&8 in the Matchplay, after Ames had annoyed him with a remark about how the world number one was beatable. Ames actually said something along the lines that he could beat Woods, especially given where Tiger was driving the ball at the time. Woods answered the criticism emphatically, with his clubs.
While Ames refused to be drawn into making any remarks about their apparent feud, Tiger was more forthcoming.
“We all know Stephen is a person who likes to speak his mind,” he said. “He’s opinionated and I think he was just being honest. When he’s asked a question, he answers it honestly. That’s what he did there in that instance.”
Notoriously, those playing alongside Tiger in the final group don’t play very well. (Today, Tiger’s playing partner, Scott Verplank, shot a 74. We will see what happens to Ames tomorrow.

Leaderboard after round 3:

203 (-7) Tiger Woods
206 (-4) Stephen Ames
207 (-3) Woody Austin
208 (-2) John Senden
209 (-1) Ernie Els
210 (L) Boo Weekley, Nathan Green, Kevin Sutherland, K.J. Choi, Aaron Oberholser, Adam Scott, Scott Verplank
211 (+!) Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy
212 (+2) Peter Hanson, Sean O’Hair