[ Back ]

Toms Catches Fire
Five players tied for the lead after 3rd round
By Dave Weissman

David Toms shook off yesterday’s double-bogey on 18, shooting a hole-in-one on the 4th hole, an eagle on #15 and a slew of birdies to earn a share of the lead at 12-under par in the 2005 Memorial Tournament along with first and second round leader Jeff Sluman, Fred Couples, Jonathan Kaye, and journeyman Bart Bryant.

Toms started out the day right off the bat with a birdie on the first hole and then the hole in one on the 4th seemed to energize him further as he would birdie three holes in the next five played. He played stead par until the eagle on the 15th hole.

“I felt great the first two days and didn't get much out of my rounds, finishing with a double yesterday,” Toms said. “I went out there today and birdied the 1st hole right out of the box, and then the hole in 1 on No. 4 was a good shot but it was a little bit lucky that it one hopped and hit the stick and went in. I gave myself a lot of opportunities all day long, and when I did get in trouble, I laid it up on 11 and got it up and down for par and made a nice par save on 16 after a bad first putt from 15 feet.”

His only other scoring trouble came on the final hole. His second shot off 18 was wide right and left him with a tree and a lightning rod in the path of his swing. He was able to get up and down with a superb shot from the front of the green which landed inches from the cup. “Tthe one I hit on 18 was a great shot. I hit a good shot and I didn't break my club, so it made it a great shot,” he said.

Second round leader Jeff Sluman did not put his head in the sand, keeping pace with the leaders. He would birdie 2, 6, 7 and 12 to card a 12-under par. He would bogey the 13th before another birdie on 15 put him back to 12 under.

Fred Couples has been playing with a quiet confidence, shooting 5-under par yesterday and today firing 6-under for a share of the lead. “the first day I hit the ball very, very well and thought I played a real good round and the scores were phenomenal. And in my mind, yesterday and today, I just had a little bit more of an aggressive game plan, and you have to shoot you know, it's not that easy, but you've got to shoot what everyone is shooting,” he said.

Tiger Woods played par golf through the first nine holes with two bogeys and two birdies, while shooting just 1-under par on the back nine to end his day four shots off the lead, but still within sight of the leaders. “All my misses early for about the first ten holes were all on the short side, and that's the only thing you can't do on this golf course is short side yourself, and I kept doing that again and again and again,” Woods said after his round. “Unfortunately it cost me a couple bogeys but I made some great saves on 9 and 10 to keep the momentum going. I only hit one bad shot the entire back nine, so I'm very pleased.”

Woody Austin, playing right behind Tom’s group and dressed in a shirt meant more for the Las Vegas poker game than the golf course seemed to feed off the energy, carding a 32 on the front nine and and a 33 on the back, with his only blemish a bogey on the finishing hole. I played eight good holes on Thursday and then I didn't play good until today,” he said, “but at least I'm getting closer and closer to stringing good rounds in a row.”

Asked what he would be wearing for the final round Sunday, he stated, “Well, I'm going to wear a shirt I've never worn tomorrow. It's brand new. It's one of the scenic shirts that has a scene on it that I've never worn. It's got a little orange and a little brown. It's pretty cool. Hopefully it'll have the same luck as this one.”

The day started out fantastic for former champion Jim Furyk and he seemed to set the pace for the others. “(I) just kind of got in a good rhythm out there, hit some solid shots and I knocked in a lot of putts, which was fun,” Furyk said. Playing just after a loner, he took advantage of the excellent conditions of the course to post an 8-under par 64

The other drama of the round belonged to Rory Sabbatini. Sabbatini has been fighting the stomach flu for two days and it caught up with him during the round. After hitting to the green on 18, he felt woozy and dehydrated. After a brief pause, he was able to finish the round, placing his third shot from the left front rough to 6 feet within the hole. He would par the hole, sign his card and head off with the medics for treatment. No word yet on his condition.

Bart Bryant, the oft-injured Texan who has gone through qualifying schools six times is tied for the lead along with Toms. He had a full day, carding a 35 on the front nine which included a double-bogey on #2 and a bogey on #5. But, his 31 on the back nine with five birdies moved him into the logjam at the top. Bryant made the shot of the day at #17 when is second shot from the fairway landed inches from the cup to earn his final birdie of the round.