Saturday, May 7, 2005
Eight birdies in the first 15 holes helped produce a 6-shot advantage.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Sergio Garcia left a world-class field in his wake Saturday, making eight birdies in his first 15 holes for a 5-under 67 that gave him a six-shot lead in the Wachovia Championship.
Except for a few wayward tee shots into the trees, Garcia was nearly flawless from tee-to-green, and even better with his putter. He pulled away with three straight birdies along the back nine, and refused to let the brutal finishing holes stop him on his way to a 12-under 204.
D.J. Trahan, a 24-year-old rookie, did his best to challenge Garcia until stumbling on the back nine to a 71. He was at 6-under 210, along with Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk.
Furyk, in his best performance since wrist surgery a year ago, had a 69 and will be paired with the 25-year-old Spaniard today. He wasn't holding out much hope.
"He's lapping the field right now," Furyk said. "The golf tournament is in his hands; he's going to determine who the winner is. He goes out and shoots 70, you can hand him the trophy."
Singh played in the final group with Garcia on Saturday and was no match, shooting a 71.
Nick Price had a 69 and was at 211.
Woods squanders chances
Tiger Woods, who has never finished worse than third after winning the Masters, might see that streak end with a thud. He squandered opportunities on the front nine and failed to make a birdie over the final 11 holes for a 73, leaving him at 1-under 215 and 11 shots behind.
Phil Mickelson had a 73 and was at 1-over 217.
It was only the third time Garcia has held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, although never one this big. The other two were at the 2001 Buick Classic and the Byron Nelson Championship last year, both times by two shots. He won both.
No one expects anything different this time.
The six-shot lead is the largest on the PGA Tour since Mickelson led by seven in a wire-to-wire win at Pebble Beach. Garcia kept saying he was on top of his game from the opening round, and no one doubts him now.
He ran into trouble a couple of times in the trees that only slowed his momentum, but not for long.
Garcia pushed his drive into the trees on the fourth hole and had to play a low punch below a 6-foot ceiling of limbs. Seemingly out of danger, he then pitched too hard up the ridge and just off the green, and using his fairway metal to chip, sent the ball 12 feet by, leading to double bogey.
Suddenly, his lead was gone after Trahan birdied the par-5 fifth ahead of him.
Birdies
From an awkward lie in the slope of a greenside bunker, Garcia chipped to within inches for a birdie on No. 5 to catch Trahan, and they traded birdies through the turn.
That's when the tournament changed, from a battle of youth to a Spanish runaway.
Garcia found trouble again in the trees to the right of the tight 12th fairway, was lucky to escape and limited the damage to a bogey, reducing his lead to one.
After that, he simply was unstoppable.
He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th, then fearlessly ripped a driver to the front edge of the 358-yard 14th hole, pitching to 10 feet for another birdie. And when he two-putted from 35 feet on the par-5 15th, it was his eighth birdie of the round and gave him a five-shot lead.
Trahan could not hang on after his birdie on the par-5 10th. He went over the 11th green for a bogey, got hung up in the right rough on the 14th, and pulled too much club on the crusty 17th, the ball rolling hard past the pin, onto the rocks and down into the water.