Snedeker fires 70 for a 3-shot lead
SAN DIEGO - Brandt Snedeker didn't know how golf could get any better than an opening-round 61 until he walked up the 18th fairway to a standing ovation yesterday after expanding his lead and the size of his gallery at the Buick Invitational.
SAN DIEGO - Brandt Snedeker didn't know how golf could get any better than an opening-round 61 until he walked up the 18th fairway to a standing ovation yesterday after expanding his lead and the size of his gallery at the Buick Invitational.
"I thought, 'This is what it feels like to be Tiger Woods,' " he said.
The only thing sweeter would be to beat him.
Snedeker overcame some sloppy tee shots with brilliant iron play for a 2-under 70 on the menacing South Course at Torrey Pines, giving the 26-year-old rookie a 3-shot lead at 13-under 131. Charles Howell III was second.
Woods also received a raucous cheer on the final hole, but only after he topped a 5-wood out of the bunker that nearly went into the water, blasted a pitch over the green into another bunker and escaped with par for a 72 that left him seven shots back.
Howell shot a a 64 on the North Course. Former PGA champion Rich Beem had a 68 on the much tougher South Course and was 9 under along with Bill Haas (66 on the North Course ) and Charlie Wi (72 on the South).
Champions Tour
KAHUKU, Hawaii - Fred Funk handled the tradewinds and tricky greens with ease, shooting a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the Turtle Bay Championship.
Tom Kite, coming off a second-place tie in the MasterCard Championship, was 2 strokes back with David Eger and John Harris in the tour's first full-field event of the year.
Hale Irwin, the MasterCard winner going for an unprecedented seventh victory in the event, made the turn in 41 and fought back to a 2-over 74. The 61-year-old star had a quadruple bogey on the par-4 seventh that dropped him to 5 over.
The 50-year-old Funk had seven birdies. He made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th to take the outright lead at 6 under, and birdied the 18th at Turtle Bay to reach 7 under.
European Tour
DOHA, Qatar - Australia's Richard Green shot a 7-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with South African star Retief Goosen in the Qatar Masters.
Goosen shot a 68 to match Green at 11-under 133. Australia's Nick O'Hern (69) was third. Ernie Els, the 2005 winner, was 7 strokes back after a 71 on the Doha Golf Club course.