| Williamsburg,
Va, 10th October 1998
- David Duval responded to a challenge for the lead by making birdies on
Nos. 15 and 16 today to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Michelob
Championship. Duval
lost his lead for one hole to Phil Tataurangi, who he was paired with, but there
was a two-shot swing when he birdied the par-5 15th and Tataurangi made a bogey.
Duval then made a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16. He
finished three rounds over the 6,853-yard River Course at Kingsmill with a 13-under
200 total. He won this event last year with a 13-under total, beating Duffy Waldorf
and Grant Waite in a playoff for his first victory. "It
certainly tried my patience,'' Duval said of his 3-under-par 68, which included
two bogeys. "I wasn't holing a whole lot of putts. ... But I looked at it
like I was bound to make a putt at some point.'' Gary
Hallberg, who pulled into a tie for the lead at 11-under after 10 holes only to
make consecutive bogeys, regained three strokes over the last five holes, capping
his round with a 36-foot birdie putt on No. 18. "That
was just, 'Lag it up there,' and it went in,'' Hallberg said. "It's my longest
putt of the week. My longest in a long time, actually.'' Seeking
his first victory since 1992 and first top-10 finish since 1994, the 40-year-old
Hallberg finished three rounds one shot behind Duval, with Tataurangi another
shot off the pace and Frank Lickliter fourth, three shots back. Hallberg
had a 66 today, Tataurangi a 69 and Lickliter a 70. Duval,
Tataurangi and Hallberg shared the lead on two occasions, both times at 11-under.
Hallberg dropped out the first time with bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12, and Duval dropped
back when Tataurangi made a 10-footer on No. 14. But
the 26-year-old New Zealander didn't last long in the top spot. He hit his second
shot into the nasty rough to the right of the green on the par-5 15th, pitched
back over the other side of the green, then chipped past the hole and two-putted
for bogey. Duval two-putted for birdie from 40 feet. Duval's
birdie on No. 16 gave him a two-shot lead, but only briefly as Hallberg started
his dead-on 36-footer just a few seconds later. Hallberg,
a three-time winner on the PGA Tour in his career, said he almost gave up the
game a few years back, but decided instead to tear his game down and rebuild it
piece by piece, just like many young players are doing. "I
just started doing that a year ago at age 39,'' he said, "and I'm pretty
excited with the results. ... It feels good to not suffer out there.'' Payne
Stewart, five strokes off the lead at the start of his round, and Bradley Hughes
were four back. Stewart shot his second straight 67, trimming seven strokes from
par after a bogey-bogey start, and Hughes shot a 69. DIVOTS:
Hallberg uses former University of Texas football coach John Mackovic as a sort
of sports psychologist, also consults with University of Virginia sports psychologist
Bob Rotella and has Jerome Andrews of the David Ledbetter school as his swing
coach. ... Tataurangi was addressing his ball on the 17th green, after Duval putted,
when a boat in the James River alongside the green began blaring music by Pearl
Jam. "I kind of liked it,'' Tataurangi said. "I hadn't gotten into my
routine yet. I was singing along.''
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