SAN MARTIN, California (AP) ― Briny Baird picked out his line and pulled off the shot, a driver that settled 15 feet from the cup and led to eagle on the 17th hole Saturday that staked him to a two-shot lead in the Frys.com Open.
Despite a bogey from the hazard on the final hole at CordeValle, Baird had a 7-under 64 to give himself a small cushion over Ernie Els and Paul Casey, two players who have a bit more experience winning.
That’s not saying much ― Baird has never won at all.
He has gone 347 tournaments over 12 years without hoisting a trophy on the PGA Tour. This is only the third time he has been atop the leaderboard going into the final round, the last occasion at Disney seven years ago.
So how does Baird treat Sunday at CordeValle?
“Whatever I thought about the other times, throw that out the window,” Baird said. “At Disney, I just played so-so. Unless you have an eight-shot lead, so-so is not going to cut it. If I can feel tomorrow like I did today ... of course, if I knew how to do that, I’d be something.”
Mediocre play most likely won’t cut it at the Frys.com Open.
Even as Els settled into disappointing pars on the easier holes down the stretch, and Casey kept in the hunt throughout most of the sunny day along the vineyards at CordeValle, there were plenty of other players lining up behind them.
Tiger Woods wasn’t among them.
Woods played steadily again for a 3-under 68, although that wasn’t enough on this day.
It was the first time since his season-opening start at Torrey Pines that Woods posted consecutive rounds under 70. Even so, he was nine shots behind in a tie for 38th.
