| Atlanta,
Georgia, 31st October 1998
- Even before the first tee shot was struck in the Tour Championship, the
thick, meshy rough and linoleum-like greens promised to provide a grueling four
rounds of golf at East Lake Golf Club. Vijay Singh is finally starting to feel
it. With every
loose swing off the tee and every venture into the rough, Singh found himself
in another battle to hang onto par. "I
didn't play well enough to shoot 70," he said. Still,
that was enough to give him a one-stroke lead today over Hal Sutton and Jim Furyk
heading into a final round when the fairways will look a little more narrow, the
rough a little deeper and all eyes will be on the scoreboard. "I
could shoot even-par and win the tournament," Furyk said. "I could shoot
even-par and lose by five. You just have to hang in there, try to do the best
you can on every hole." Furyk
(69) and Sutton (68) are the only players who broke par all three rounds over
East Lake. More importantly, they kept Singh within range in the season-ending
tournament for the top 30 money-winners on the PGA Tour. "I
watch the board even if it's a pro-am," said Singh, who finished at 7-under
203. "I just hope I play better than I did today. Anybody who shoots a low
score ... I think the winning score will not be 7-under, but 8-under or 9-under
or more." But
that doesn't give just anybody a chance. Only
two other players are within striking distance of the leaders. Jesper Parnevik
birdied the 18th for a 3-under 67 that put him at 207, four strokes off the lead.
Justin Leonard
had a 68 and was at 208, historically a good place for him to be. He's won all
three of his tournaments -- including The Players Championship in March -- when
he trailed by five strokes going into the final round. "I'm
probably going to need a little help," Leonard said. At
the rate Singh is going, he may get it. Singh,
who shattered the competitive course record of 63 in the first round, has struggled
off the tee over the past two rounds. Still, he has managed to catch decent lies
out of rough so thick that at one point today, three marshals couldn't find his
ball. When they did, one of them stepped on it. "I
got luckier than a lot of other guys who missed the fairway," Singh said.
Tom Lehman was
one of the more unfortunate ones. Needing to win this week to qualify for the
Presidents Cup team, Lehman started the third round just four off the lead and
was right in the mix when he made the turn. But
he made only one par on a back nine that featured a double bogey, two birdies
and one stretch of five straight bogeys. Lehman chipped in for birdie on the 18th
for a 75 that left him at 212, nine strokes back. In
the 12 years of the season-ending Tour Championship, only Tom Watson in the inaugural
year has won wire-to-wire. For Singh to match that feat Sunday, he'll have his
work cut out for him. "You
don't want to get too far away from the leader," said Sutton, who shot a
68. "But it's not going to be an easy place to lead. If you make some mistakes
and get some bogeys, it could be easy to get frustrated out there -- especially
if someone is throwing down birdies." For
the second day in a row, Singh failed to protect his lead. He
made bogey on No. 5 by hitting his drive so far to the right he nearly went out
of bounds. Furyk caught him at 6-under with his second birdie on the par-3 sixth
hole, then surged ahead with two birdies to make the turn at 8-under. That
didn't last long. He
couldn't get up-and-down from a greenside bunker at No. 10, three-putted from
about 40 feet on the 11th and made his third straight bogey from the rough on
No. 12. Furyk closed with a birdie on No. 18, which was playing from only 201
yards. "I
tried to stay patient and not get too upset with myself," Furyk said. "When
you play a course this tough, you're going to make some bogeys." Defending
champion David Duval had another exasperating day on the greens, and another 69
that left him 10 strokes back but in good shape to win the money title. He's tied
for 14th and needs only to finish in the top 24. Tiger
Woods showed up on the first tee with a huge afro wig to celebrate Halloween,
and two holes later celebrated his first birdie of the tournament. He finished
with a 69 to move up to a tie for 26th in the field of the top 30 money-winners
on the PGA Tour. Eight
of the 11 past champions of this event have either led or shared the lead after
54 holes. Singh will be paired in the final round with Hal Sutton. "I'm
just going to play my game," Singh said. "Whatever he does is his problem."
But if Singh
continues to miss fairways, it could catch up with him. "It
will be difficult to shoot a low round," said Leonard, who needs just that.
"But it's pretty easy to shoot a 75 or 76." | 
