PONTE VEDRA SHORE, Fla. (AP) — A rift between Tiger woods and Sergio Garcia attracted many of the attention on a stormy day at Sawgrass. Swedish rookie David Lingmerth softly went about his business and finished up atop the leaderboard Saturday inside Players Championship.
Lingmerth finished a wild day with an 8-foot eagle putt to the par-5 16th and a 10-foot birdie in the island-green 17th to reach 12-under par when third round was suspended because of darkness. It was delayed nearly two hours as a result of threatening storms.
Woods, Garcia and Henrik Stenson — all of former Players champions — ended up two shots behind. Ten players was required to return Sunday morning in order to complete the round.
The Woods-Garcia connection already was frosty, and an incident to the par-5 second hole was sure to increase another layer of chill.
Garcia was hitting his second shot within the fairway when he was disrupted with a burst of cheers within the large crowd gathered around Woods with the trees. Garcia snapped his head over left and glared.
The cheer was for Woods choosing a fairway metal from your partner's bag, a risky shot because he'd only a 15-foot gap to escape the Woods.
"Well, obviously Tiger was on the left and it was my shot going to, " Garcia said. "He moved all of the crowd that he wanted to move. I waited to the. I wouldn't say that he didn't see that I was ready, but you do employ a feel when the other guy would hit and right when i was in the top of the backswing, I think he really need pulled like a 5-wood or simply a 3-wood and obviously most people started screaming. So that didn't help substantially. "
"The marshals, they laughed and said already hit, so I pulled some sort of club and was getting ready to play my shot, inch Woods said. "And then i hear his comments later on, and not real unusual that he's complaining approximately something. "
Garcia wound up creating a bogey on the second hole to lose the one-shot lead he had at first of the round. Trees and shrubs pulled off his shot, and then blasted out of your bunker to about 10 little feet and made birdie to take the lead.
When surprise clouds moved in, Garcia already hit a tough shot onto the alternative at No. 7, and Woods had to mark his ball in the fairway when the siren sounded to avoid play. When they started again, Wood hit onto this seventh green, and Garcia putted prior to when Woods got there.
The pair were on the 15th damaged spot when play was stopped thanks to darkness. Woods gave quick TV interview, and Garcia came up to shake his hand.
"It happens to myself when I'm in The country, " he said in the large crowds. "Obviously, it happens to him everywhere you go he goes. He gets there are many following, and I think you need to be very careful because there are another guy playing. Sometimes you have to pay attention to what are you doing because if the other guy's hitting therefore you do something when you're in the crowd, the crowd will respond and it's going to affect the other gamer.
Told about Woods' ideas regarding Garcia complaining, a Spaniard replied, "That's excellent. At least I'm a fact to myself. I know very well what I'm doing, and he'll do whatever he wishes. "
Lingmerth, who began his first year season by losing inside of a playoff at the Humana Concern, poured in par putts across the back nine to stay for the leaders, and then he raced by them in reference to his eagle-birdie finish. He revenue Sunday to play your 18th hole.
Stenson was the primary to reach 12 using when he made some sort of 20-foot birdie putt with the par-5 ninth, but what was a shoo-in birdie to the par-5 11th turned towards a bogey when his next shot when just extensive and down a large slope. It took him two chips to attain the green and this individual made bogey, and Stenson made another bogey on the 15th.
Garcia made par from deep with the woods and bogey from the biggest market of the fairway. He came near to a hole-in-one on this 13th hole, and went bunker-to-bunker for bogey to the 14th hole. Woods is far steadier, though not spectacular. That birdie this individual made on No. 2 was his only one of several day.
Jeff Maggert, who also had a share of the lead at one point early in the day, bogeyed the last hole for any 66 and was your clubhouse leader at 9-under 207. Casey Wittenberg and Jones Palmer also were at 9-under but still had to finish ones own rounds.
Lee Westwood whiffed a shot on his opening golf hole then his club nicked a pine tree on his downswing and the club went nearly a foot beyond daylight hours ball, leading to increase bogey. Westwood was 6-under by using three holes to participate in.
Hunter Mahan's tee shot over the 15th hole got stuck high up in a tree, leading to double bogey, but then he rolled in the eagle putt from from the 16th green. He three-putted the seventeenth green for bogey and wound up with a 71, putting him at 8-under 208 along with David Lynn of The united kingdom, who had a 68. Lynn lost inside of a playoff last week for Quail Hollow.
Woods and Garcia haven't had a friendly partnership. Woods was said to be put off when Garcia celebrated wildly after winning a Monday night "Battle for Bighorn" exhibition in 2000. In the 2002 U. S. Opened at Bethpage Black, which Woods won wire-to-wire, Garcia complained that play needs to have been stopped in the second round as a result of rain.
Saturday was the sixth time Woods and Garcia have played together inside final group on that weekend. Woods went up on win the previous six tournaments.
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