Australian Stuart Appleby has a two stroke lead over K.J. Choi of South Korea headed into the final round of the AT&T National tournament outside Washington. As VOA's David Byrd reports, soaring temperatures and harder greens made shooting under par difficult for even the best players.
Appleby shot a 2-under-par 68 to move to 9-under-par 201 for the tournament. The Aussie says the weather helped make the course tougher to play. "The greens got a little - definitely got faster, which, whereas the first few days, the greens were not nearly as quick. But we both played pretty well. I hope it was good viewing. The course was great, and both of us are playing well. So, it will be good fun tomorrow," he said.
Choi had an even par 70, and is 7-under-par 203 for the tournament. Speaking through a translator, the Korean said the greens made putting difficult. "Putting was really difficult today. It was really hard to grasp the speed of the greens. Luckily in the back nine, I was able to come back nicely and back the nice three holes, and pretty much finished out pretty good," he said.
American Steve Stricker shot a 3-under-par 67 in his third round, and is 6-under-par (204) for three rounds. Mike Weir of Canada shot a 3-under-par 67, and is 5-under-par (205) for the tournament.
World Number One golfer and tournament host Tiger Woods shot a 1-under-par 69, and is part of a group of players - including Americans Jim Furyk and Kevin Stadler and England's Justin Rose - at 2-under-par for the tournament. Tiger says he still has a good chance of winning, but the course is tough. "So, again, I think what you do is play it for what it is. I know that some of the pin locations you cannot fire at. The majority of them you can. For tomorrow, we'll see," he said.
The tournament is being played at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The winner earns more than $1 million.
