|
MADRID(AP) Ross McGowan took the biggest 54-hole lead on the European Tour this year after a 12-under 60 on Saturday gave him a seven-stroke advantage at the Madrid Masters. The Englishman was at 24-under 192 after a third round that included two eagles and 10 birdies at the Centro Nacional course. “I can’t believe it really,” McGowan said. “I just played my own game and didn’t think about the score until I hit the second shot to the 18th.” McGowan could bolster his Ryder Cup prospects with his first victory of the season. He is currently eighth in the standings. Sergio Garcia bogeyed four of his last seven holes on his way to a 71 that put him 10 shots back after he shared the overnight lead with David Drysdale. The Scot had a 69 and was eight strokes adrift. The Spaniard, who is winless this season, started with back-to-back birdies and was only one shot behind McGowan at the turn. Things then fell apart thanks to five bogeys.Golf Bags Michael Lorenzo-Vera (64) of France and Danny Willett (66) of England shared second place. Tags: Centro, David Drysdale, Draft, lead, MADRID, Madrid MADRID, Masters, McGowan, Ross McGowan, round Recap of Sunday’s singles matches Archived in the category: Golf Accessories, Golf Training, other, Putter Series, TaylorMade Golf Posted by admin on 18 Mar 12 - Comments Off SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A capsule look at Sunday’s singles matches in the Presidents Cup: Hunter Mahan, United States, def. Camilo Villegas, International, 2 and 1. Mahan got off to a rough start with bogeys on the opening two holes, then settled down and fought his way back into the match. He took his first lead when Villegas bogeyed the ninth, and they halved the next seven holes until Villegas made one last mistake. He tried to drive the 17th, only to go left and short-side himself. He put his wedge into a bunker, blasted out 25 feet and took bogey. Villegas became the only International player to get shut out. —= Stewart Cink, United States, def. Adam Scott, International, 4 and 3. Cink won his first match, and Scott raised even more questions why he was a captain’s pick. They exchanged birdies early in the match, and Cink pulled ahead with a wedge to tap-in range for birdie at the fifth. He never trailed the next of the way, and seized control by winning the first two holes on the back nine to go 3 up. Scott played all five rounds and contributed one point. Mike Weir, International, halved with Justin Leonard, United States. Leonard never led the entire match, yet still managed to earn a halve. Weir took his first lead when Leonard three-putted from long range at the fourth, and the Canadian birdied the sixth to go 2 up. The match was all square after 14 holes, and they swapped the next two holes when Leonard made double bogey and birdie. Leonard fell one down with a bogey on the 17th, but reached the 18th green in two for a birdie to halve the match. Anthony Kim, United States, def. Robert Allenby, International, 5 and 3. For such a big victory, Kim didn’t have to play all that great. He was only 1 under at the turn and had a 2-up lead over Allenby, who played his singles match at 4 over. Kim had a short miss to lose the 13th, then birdied the next hole to make sure he didn’t lose momentum. Allenby made yet another bogey on the 15th to end the match.Golf Apparel Geoff Ogilvy, International, def. Steve Stricker, United States, 2 and 1. Stricker was undefeated in four matches with Tiger Woods, not so good on his own. Ogilvy never trailed, winning two holes on the front nine with pars as Stricker struggled off the tee. Stricker won the 11th with a birdie, and another birdie on the 16th put him down one hole with two to play. Ogilvy was too tough, however, driving the 13th green for a two-putt birdie and closing him out with a birdie on the 17th. It was a rematch from two years ago at Royal Montreal, and Ogilvy won that one, too. Sean O’Hair, United States, def. Ernie Els, International, 6 and 4. O’Hair showed life when he played two team matches with Phil Mickelson, and the Presidents Cup rookie was even better on his own. O’Hair had one of the best rounds at 6-under par when he closed out the match on the 14th hole. He opened with two birdies to seize control and didn’t lose a hole, matching Els the one time the South African made birdie. O’Hair won the final three holes. Ryo Ishikawa, International, def. Kenny Perry, United States, 2 and 1. In the battle of the oldest (Perry is 49) and youngest (Ishikawa is 18) players at Harding Park, give this one to youth. Perry took a 1-up lead with a birdie on the tough fourth hole, uphill and into the wind. Ishikawa squared the match with a birdie on the seventh and took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-3 14th. They halved the rest of the holes until Perry conceded a birdie on the 17th. Tim Clark, International, def. Zach Johnson, United States, 4 and 3. Clark didn’t have the shortest match, but he was the best in singles. He opened with back-to-back birdies and never let up, winning five of the opening seven holes to build a huge lead. Johnson rallied on the back, making four straight birdies. Trouble was, Clark matched him on three of those holes, including the 15th to close out the match. Clark had eight birdies in 15 holes. Tiger Woods, United States, def. Y.E. Yang, International, 6 and 5. Playing together for the first time since Yang beat him in the final round of the PGA Championship, Woods got some hollow revenge. He didn’t get a major, only a point. Even so, it was the point that clinched the Presidents Cup, the first time in 11 cup competitions that Woods earned that distinction. Woods rolled in several long putts and won four holes in a five-hole stretch, then closed him out with a 9-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole for the shortest match of the day.Golf Accessories Vijay Singh, International, halved with Lucas Glover, United States. Singh took the lead on the fourth hole when Glover made bogey, and the Fijian never trailed. He built a 3-up lead through 10 holes until Glover chipped away with a par on the 11th and a birdie on the 15th. With the match all square, both made bogey on the short par-4 17th, and Singh had the advantage on the 18th. He narrowly missed his 30-foot eagle putt, while Glover was in a bunker in two and blasted out to 7 feet behind the hole. Singh, in the classiest gesture of the week, conceded the birdie putt. That assured Glover would not end the week without contributing a point. Phil Mickelson, United States, def. Retief Goosen, International, 2 and 1. This was the last match on the course and proved meaningless, although Mickelson found a way to keep it exciting. He never trailed, going 2-up after three holes and protecting his 1-up lead on the 16th by playing a shot around two huge cedar trees and a concession stand, onto the green to make par. Mickelson tried to drive the green on the 17th, chipped to 6 feet and holed the birdie putt to close out the match. That kept Goosen without a victory (0-3-1) for the first time in a Presidents Cup.Callaway Golf Angel Cabrera, International, def. Jim Furyk, United States, 4 and 3. After being undefeated in singles since 1998, Furyk lost his second singles match in a row at the Presidents Cup and Cabrera avoided being shut out at Harding Park. The Masters champion never trailed, winning two of the first three holes. Cabrera bogeyed the eighth and had only a 1-up lead, and they halved the next three holes until Cabrera birdied the 12th, 13th and 14th to put him away. By then, the cup already had been won.
Related Articles -
golf,
|
