British Open Third Round News & Notes

Golf Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Any golf fan who went to Carnoustie would dream of an opportunity to meet the two-time defending champion and world No. 1, Tiger Woods.

A 60-year-old woman had that chance on Saturday at the sixth hole.

It could have gone better.

Woods missed his second shot well right at the par-five hole. His ball struck the woman in the head and Woods went over to check on her before hitting his third.

"I went over there and the lady was bleeding all over the place," said Woods. "I felt really bad. I've done that before. You don't ever feel good about it. You have kind of a pit in your stomach.

"She was smiling. I don't know how she was smiling. But I just apologized the best I could."

Woods gave her an autographed golf glove as well.

The adventure was not over for Woods at six. After receiving a favorable, albeit unfortunate, bounce off the women's skull, Woods had a clear shot for his third from the rough.

A camera went off in his backswing, but he stopped before making impact. Woods and his caddie reprimanded the cameraman, then he made par.

Woods shot a two-under 69 and is tied for 15th place at minus-one.

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER RUN

Last year, Chris DiMarco came to Royal Liverpool in some bad shape.

He lost his mother not long before the British Open Championship and expectations were low. The Ryder Cup was a few months away and DiMarco, an admitted, unabashed fan of playing American team competitions, was not in the top 10. In fact, U.S. captain Tom Lehman basically said DiMarco was not playing well enough to warrant a wild-card pick.

DiMarco finished 65-69-68 and took second behind Tiger Woods. That vaulted him to sixth on the Ryder Cup points list and made everything a little bit better for the Florida Gator.

This year, things have not gone DiMarco's way much either. According to ABC's Paul Azinger, the next Ryder Cup captain, DiMarco's left shoulder pops out 70 percent of the time on his back swing.

With the Presidents Cup looming, DiMarco is 36th on the American points list. Barring a major run late this summer, DiMarco, the man who clinched The Presidents Cup for the U.S. in 2005, will be watching on the couch.

Well, the run started Saturday at Carnoustie.

DiMarco fired a five-under 66 in round three and is tied for third place at minus-three for the championship.

"You need to stay patient out here," said DiMarco. "As long as you give yourself chances out here, you can make some 20- or 30-footers."

DiMarco credited a change of caddies in part for turning his season around. Actually, it's a familiar face. He brought back his old caddie, who lost his job this time last year.

"Last year, I came over and I had lost my mom. I brought a friend over with me and we had a great finish," said DiMarco. "We kept him on for this year and I just wasn't feeling it."

He felt it on Saturday.

MASTERFUL ROUND

Masters champion Zach Johnson did not have a good start to his week at Carnoustie. He lost his golf clubs somewhere along the trip over to Scotland.

"I was a bit stressed to say the least," admitted Johnson, who missed the cut in Milwaukee last week. "I had my clothes, which are important, but nowhere near as important as my sticks."

Johnson got his clubs on time, but didn't do much with them through the first two rounds. He made the cut on the number, but shot a three-under 68 Saturday to finish in a tie for 20th at plus-one.

He will need a serious run on Sunday if he is to win both the Masters and British Open in the same year. Tiger Woods was the last to turn that feat in 2005, but before that was Mark O'Meara, Johnson's playing partner on Saturday.

"I won one golf tournament and I've got to stick to how I won that and why I won that green jacket and just keep going about my business," said Johnson. "It was an amazing week, but this is a new week. Hopefully I can have another amazing week because I love this championship."

* Steve Stricker's 64 on Saturday was a British Open Championship record at Carnoustie. The previous best was the 65 carded by Jack Newton in the third round in 1975.

* John Senden had perhaps the most bizarre shot of the tournament on the 18th Saturday. His third at the closing hole hit the grandstands on the left, then ricocheted hard to the right and seemed destined to go out of bounds. That was, until the ball hit a stake guarding the out of bounds mark and bounced back into play. Unfortunately, the Australian still double-bogeyed the hole.

* Four inches of rain was forecast on Saturday, but aside from light rain when the final pairing teed off and finished, there was very little precipitation. The wind is supposed to kick up on Sunday. "The forecast was wrong again today," said Woods. "We'll see."

* Woods was not the only player to hit a spectator. Garcia clunked a gentleman on the head left of the 17th green, but hit an amazing chip and saved par from three feet.

* If Garcia can hang on Sunday, he will become the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie.

* The hardest hole on Saturday, and for the third consecutive round, was the par-four closing hole. It played easier than the first two rounds, but was still over par at 4.37.

* The easiest hole in round three was once again the par-five 14th, which played to an average of 4.36.

* For the week, 18 has been hardest at 4.65, while 14 has played the easiest at 4.60.