Bunker brings end to Westwood surge up leaderboard
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Your support makes all the difference.Lee Westwood did not try to conceal his utter frustration yesterday after a day which had promised to rekindle his golf career ended in misery.
Four under par and sharing the lead after 16 holes of the NEC world championship here, Westwood finished with a level par 70 and fell five strokes behind the pacesetters, Scott Verplank, and the Open champion, Ben Curtis. "What can you do?" asked the former European No 1, who is now 219th on the world rankings. "Can you give me anything to be optimistic about after that?"
His annoyance was directed mainly at the fact that his drive down the 400-yard 17th caught the top of a bunker, and stuck there, bnuried in the sand. "I pushed it a little bit right, it pitches in the face of the trap and when I get up there I can see about three dimples of the golf ball."
Unable to get the ball out of the bunker the 30-year-old from Worksop then had a fresh air shot from the rough by the green and in the end had to make a five-footer to ensure that he dropped only three shots. He then bogeyed the 464-yard last after driving into the rough and sank into the pack of the élite 86-man field, which was reduced to 85 when the New Zealander Phil Tataurangi pulled out before the start through injury.
Ian Poulter had earlier complained about the bunkers at Firestone as he struggled to a 73. "One minute there is six inches of sand in them and the next minute there is half an inch,"the Englishman said.
Tiger Woods, winner on the course on his last three visits, had no such problems as he reached the turn in a two under 33, but by then Curtis, who is getting married after his third round on Saturday, had covered the front nine in 32 and then started for home birdie-birdie.
It brought the 26-year-old, 396th in the world when he won at Sandwich last month, alongside Verplank and one ahead of the Americans David Toms and Chris Riley and also the Ulsterman Darren Clarke, who birdied the long second hole despite badly hooking his drive. Sixty yards short of the flag in two Clarke pitched to 12 feet and made it. He went on to match Curtis's front nine and then also birdied the 10th.
Colin Montgomerie was two under with two to play, but Paul McGinley was one over after 17, his fellow Dubliner Padraig Harrington four over after 15 and England's Phil Golding was six over after a triple bogey eight on the 16th.
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