NEC World Championship: A disastrous three-putt from only three feet at the par three 12th appeared to have put paid to Paul McGinley's chances in a tense final round of the NEC World Championships in Akron, Ohio last evening.
Trailing joint leaders Kenny Perry, Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco by just one shot up to that point, McGinley's error plunged him back to three under for the tournament and left him three behind with only six holes to play.
In a nervy finale, Perry looked to have gained a crucial advantage when he went two clear after seven, profiting from rare putting lapses by world number one Woods. But he, too, was to succumb to the treacherous Firestone course with bogeys at the ninth and 10th.
Having completed the rain-delayed third round in 67 early in the morning, McGinley had started the final round one adrift of joint leaders Perry and Woods.
He joined them briefly with a four on the par five second, finding the green in two and two-putting from 35 feet. But Woods, in the following group, got up and down from behind the green to restore his advantage.
Astonishingly, then, the world number one missed from less than three feet for par on the third to restore the three-way tie at the top.
McGinley, who had been playing beautifully, missed his first green at the 202 yard, par three fifth and it was to cost him a shot as he failed to get up and down.
The Dubliner steadied with two pars but Woods again showed fallibility from short range, missing from five feet at the fifth to leave Perry in the lead on his own.
And the quietly spoken 45-year-old extended the advantage when he holed for birdie at the par three seventh. McGinley hung in there with a gutsy par saver from six feet at the eighth where Sergio Garcia birdied to join the chase.
Padraig Harrington finished with a level par 70 for a two over 282 aggregate while Darren Clarke, winner of the title on this course two years ago, closed with a 68 but still had to be content with a four-over mid-table finish.
Earlier yesterday when the third round was completed McGinley's first shot of the morning was a chip from over the back of the green at the 16th. He got it down to five feet, made that and almost came up with a spectacular birdie at the 18th.
EARLY COMPLETED SCORES (US unless stated): 277 Luke Donald (Gbr) 69 67 74 67. 278 C Montgomerie (Gbr) 70 72 68 68. 279 Rod Pampling (Aus) 71 70 71 67. 281 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 73 71 71 66, K Ferrie (Gbr)71 70 73 67 Jay Haas 76 69 67 69. 282 Jim Furyk 72 73 68 69 Padraig Harrington (ire) 75 68 69 70 284 Darren Clarke (Ire) 76 68 72 68, Fred Couples 71 74 70 69 Bart Bryant 74 73 67 70 Nick O'Hern 68 73 72 71. 285 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 72 70 71 Chad Campbell 72 72 69 72 Ian Poulter (Gbr) 73 69 69 74. 286 Woody Austin 73 68 77 68 Peter Lonard (Aus) 74 71 68 73 Adam Scott (Aus) 70 76 67 73 Stephen Ames (Can)74 71 68 73. 287 Tom Lehman 73 71 75 68, Goeff Ogilvy (Aus) 74 74 70 69, Stewart Cink 72 72 73 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 74 67 71 Fred Funk 74 71 69 73. 288 Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 75 70 71 72, Brent Geiberger 70 76 69 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 71 72 73. 289 Steve Elkington (Aus) 72 76 75 66, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 71 75 71 72. 290 Nick Dougherty (Gbr) 67 81 70 72, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 75 72 72, Sean O'Hair 70 74 73 73, Phil Mickelson 69 72 75 74, KJ Choi (Kor) 71 76 69 74 Scott Verplank 73 73 67 77. 291 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 76 75 73 67. 293 Chris Riley 69 81 74 69, Craig Parry (Aus) 79 71 73 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 77 73 73 70, Stephen Gallacher (Gbr) 74 74 75 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 73 76 72 72, Ben Crane 74 75 71 73, Mark Hensby (Aus) 70 76 71 76. 294 Kazuhiko Hosokawa (Jpn) 70 78 71 75. 295 Tim Petrovic 80 73 69 73 296 Richard Green (Aus) 76 78 69 73. 298 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 72 74 78 74. 302 Stephen Dodd (Gbr) 74 78 77 73. 304 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 79 77 75 73.
