Golf
Shaky Villegas takes command
2010-03-07 13:44
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Miami - Camilo Villegas emerged from a shaky back nine with a three-stroke lead after shooting a three-under 67 at the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday.
The in-form Colombian, joint overnight leader with American Anthony Kim, charged out of the blocks with four birdies on his front nine, before stumbling with three bogeys to fall back into the pack at the PGA National Championship course.
Villegas recovered with two birdies, however, to finish with a total of 11-under, three strokes ahead of Fiji's Vijay Singh and Australian Nathan Green.
Anthony Kim, who held a one-stroke lead with Villegas overnight, tumbled down the leaderboard with a three-over 73 after a double-bogey on the par-four sixth and three dropped shots from his last three holes.
Villegas, who came third at last month's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for eighth at the Phoenix Open that finished Sunday, is chasing his third PGA Tour title after winning back-to-back tournaments in 2008.
The 28-year-old held firm on the course's most difficult holes, taking a birdie on the 488-yard par-four sixth, where Singh and Kim both had double-bogeys.
Villegas negotiated holes 15 through 17, known as the 'Bear Trap', with two pars and a birdie, as Kim stumbled to finish six strokes off the pace.
Leading scores after the third round (USA unless noted):
199 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 66-66-67
202 - Nathan Green (AUS) 65-70-67, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 67-66-69
204 - George McNeill 68-70-66, Matt Every 69-66-69
205 - Michael Connell 65-71-69, Anthony Kim 68-64-73
206 - JB Holmes 71-69-66, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 68-67-71
207 - Charlie Wi (KOR) 72-67-68, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 69-69-69, Chris Tidland 73-67-67, Sam Saunders 69-69-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 73-64-70
208 - Henrik Bjornstad (NOR) 68-70-70, Stephen Ames (CAN) 73-64-71, Mike Weir (CAN) 71-64-73
209 - Justin Rose (ENG) 70-72-67, Oliver Wilson (ENG) 66-73-70
210 - Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 70-73-67, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 69-72-69, Lee Westwood (ENG) 69-71-70
211 - Angel Cabrera (ARG) 69-74-68, Marc Leishman (AUS) 74-66-71, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 71-69-71, Alex Cejka (GER) 68-68-75
212 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 74-69-69
213 - Ernie Els (RSA) 73-70-70, Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 66-76-71, David Lutterus (AUS) 73-69-71
214 - Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-71-72, Matt Jones (AUS) 69-73-72, Stuart Appleby (AUS) 74-69-71, Trevor Immelman (RSA) 73-68-73
215 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-69-75, John Senden (AUS) 74-68-73
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