TULSA, Okla. — Tiger Woods, nonetheless struggling in his comeback after extreme leg accidents in a automotive crash final yr, has withdrawn from the P.G.A. Championship.
Woods, a four-time winner of the occasion, was limping and transferring stiffly Saturday. He shot a nine-over par 79. After simply making the minimize on Friday, Woods slumped to 12-over par for the event, which is tied for final. Saturday’s consequence was the very best rating Woods has had throughout 22 P.G.A. Championship appearances, which spans 81 rounds.
His halting gait and deteriorating recreation was so putting, Woods was requested afterward if he nonetheless deliberate to play in Sunday’s fourth spherical.
“Nicely, I’m sore,” he answered. “I do know that’s for a truth. We’ll do some work and see the way it goes.”
He didn’t deal with if he would contend in one other event.
Others struggled within the climate.
The final time the P.G.A. Championship was performed at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Nation Membership in 2007 temperatures reached 105 levels. However that was throughout August in Oklahoma.
The P.G.A. Championship is now contested in Might and Saturday’s third spherical of the occasion introduced temperatures within the 50s, blustery winds and a subject unnerved by the taxing situations.
With pictures made unpredictable by swirling gusts, a bevy of golfers jockeyed for the lead, together with unheralded Mito Pereira of Chile, who charged to a commanding edge over his colleagues on the midpoint of his spherical. However the second-round chief, Will Zalatoris, who has 4 prime 10 finishes in his final 5 main championships, caught Pereira a number of holes later.
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Then Cameron Younger, a younger rising star on the PGA Tour, and Bubba Watson, a 43-year-old two-time Masters champion, charged inside a stroke of the lead.
When play concluded Saturday night, Pereira, who’s 27 and taking part in in simply his second main golf championship, had confidently, even boldly, regained the highest spot on the leaderboard. After a third-round 69, he’ll enter Sunday’s ultimate spherical with a three-stroke lead over Zalatoris and Matthew Fitzpatrick of England.
Pereira, after a mid-round stumble, vaulted previous the opposite third-round contenders with consecutive birdies on the thirteenth and 14th holes. Then, with a packed 18th inexperienced grandstand cheering for him, he closed out his day by sinking a 27-foot birdie putt to maneuver to nine-under for the event.
Whereas Pereira, who’s ranked one centesimal worldwide, will not be a family title in skilled golf, he has had three prime 20 finishes on the PGA Tour this yr and received 3 times on the Korn Ferry Tour, the tour’s prime minor league circuit.
Zalatoris had a bumpy begin Saturday, capturing a four-over 39 on the entrance 9 however steadied himself by curing a few of his placing woes to shoot a rocky 73.
After bogeying his first two holes, Fitzpatrick was five-under for the remainder of his spherical to shoot 67.
Younger, whose father is David Younger, the longtime golf skilled at Sleepy Hole Nation Membership within the suburbs of New York, made a late cost when he eagled the 296-yard par 4 seventeenth gap by driving the inexperienced and making a brief putt. With 4 birdies in his spherical, Younger shot 67 and was in fourth place at five-under general.
After a glowing entrance 9, Watson, who knocked his ball into seven bunkers throughout Saturday’s spherical, faltered and shot 73 and was tied for seventh.
Woods’s troubles on Saturday weren’t doubt exacerbated by the Tulsa climate. With a again that has been operated on 5 instances, Woods has not loved taking part in in chilly, damp situations for greater than a decade as a result of it reduces the flexibleness and fluidity of his golf swing. He’s additionally nonetheless adjusting to modifications to his recreation required as he continues his restoration from final yr’s tumbling automotive crash, which shattered a number of bones in his decrease proper leg.
These limitations have been on full show even earlier than Woods teed off Saturday morning when his rebuilt proper leg gave method as he descended an incline subsequent to a apply bunker and almost collapsed into the sand. Woods had to make use of a golf membership and a fast step along with his left leg to stay upright.
As soon as his spherical started, it was apparent Woods’s decreased bodily capabilities have been going to dramatically have an effect on his rating. His tee shot on the second gap was pushed right into a creek and led to a bogey. He recovered with three pars however then bungled the 218-yard par 3 sixth gap. By then, Woods already seemed in ache and he was particularly having hassle hitting his irons the required distances. A number of weren’t on line both.
On the sixth gap, his tee shot was brief and left and landed in a water hazard. After a penalty shot drop, his third shot was within the tough simply off the inexperienced and a subsequent chip that wanted to go about 30 yards traveled solely half that distance. Two putts later, Woods had a triple bogey.
He then bogeyed six of his subsequent seven holes. Woods gave the impression to be alternatively embarrassed and exasperated, however marched on. At all times the grinder, he rallied for 4 pars and a birdie in his ultimate 5 holes to keep away from capturing 80.
“I didn’t hit the ball very effectively and bought off to not the beginning I wanted to get off to,” Woods mentioned later. “I assumed I hit a great tee shot down 2 and ended up within the water, and simply by no means actually bought any sort of momentum on my facet.
“I couldn’t get off the bogey prepare there. As I mentioned, I simply didn’t — I didn’t do something proper. I didn’t hit many good pictures. Consequently, I ended up with a reasonably excessive rating.”
