Apparently, he was simply not being challenged at the appropriate level.”It’s not a whole lot of fun when you know you’ve got to shoot 65 or 66 every day just to keep pace with the leaders,” Woods said. “That’s just not fun.” This from a man who topped the birdie average table on the US Tour in 2000. Woods averaged 4.92 birdies a round, but there is no question that he prefers to be making them while no one else is. Even more to his liking is making pars while all around are making bogeys.”It’s nice to be able to play in a tournament where par is a good score,” Woods said of the Players Championship. “You go out there and you make a par on a hole, you feel pretty good about it.” It is this attitude that makes Woods an even more formidable competitor in the majors – where he will be endeavouring to extend his winning run to four at the Masters in just over a week – than in regular tournaments.

As an event that would like to think of itself as a major, the Players has always been a curious absentee from the Woods CV.Sawgrass was where Woods won the first of his three US Amateur titles in 1994, but as a professional the Stadium Course has almost caused the world No 1 more problems than any other. Over the first two days this year, Woods found the water three times but his 66 on Saturday, as the course dried out and most players’ scores went in the reverse direction to that of Tiger, powered him up the leaderboard.While Jerry Kelly, the 34-year-old journeyman from Wisconsin, maintained his lead with a steady third round of 70, Woods made sure he was in yesterday’s final pairing as he moved into joint second place with Vijay Singh. There were still some uncharacteristic errors, such as not finding a fairway for five holes, pulling his drive at the par-five 16th into the trees and blocking his three-iron tee shot at the last into the rough. But back in no uncertain fashion was Woods’s ability to create drama. At the par-five 11th, where he was in the water on Friday, Woods hit a four-iron from 229 yards to 18 inches.

He followed that eagle with a birdie at the next by hitting in his wedge approach to six inches. Then, at the 16th, after visiting the trees and heavy rough, he holed from 20 feet for a birdie. But he saved the best moment for the biggest stage.Almost 20,000 people crowd around the par-three 17th hole and Woods almost found the water for the second successive day. With the pin on the front tier, Woods was fearful of spinning a wedge shot off the ridge in the middle of the green off the front. Instead, he tried to cut a nine-iron but the wind changed and his ball stopped right at the back of the green He then faced a putt of over 50 feet over the ridge. One problem was to start it far enough to the left to take the break back to the right.

Another was simply to keep the ball on the green as it picked up pace on the downslope.”I’ve had the putt before and missed it on the right every time,” Woods said. “I was just trying to get the right pace.” As the ball locked on to the cup, the crowd roared and Tiger went into his fist-pumping routine. “I had a good feeling and I put the putter up probably a little earlier than I should have It just snuck in there somehow. That’s just luck.”Meanwhile, Joel Edwards was unable to tee up for the final round after disqualifying himself on Saturday night. Edwards said he had hit a moving ball on the first hole on Thursday and reported the incident after “several nights of contemplation and soul-searching,” according to referee Ben Nelson.PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (Sawgrass, Florida) Leading early final scores (US unless stated): 295 J Williamson 78 69 77 71 299 B Geiberger 72 75 82 70; I Woosnam (GB) 73 73 81 72 300 R Freeman 73 72 79 76; J L Lewis 73 72 78 77.. The South African Darren Fichardt captured his first European Tour title with a five-stroke victory in the São Paulo Brazil Open yesterday. The South African Darren Fichardt captured his first European Tour title with a five-stroke victory in the São Paulo Brazil Open yesterday.
Fichardt fired a closing 67 for an 18-under-par total of 195 in an event reduced to 54 holes after lightning delays over the first three days.

Argentina’s Jose Coceres, Australia’s Brett Rumford and Sweden’s Richard Johnson shared second on 13 under with South Africa’s Nic Henning and France’s Raphael Jacquelin another shot back.Anthony Wall was the leading Briton in seventh place after a superb last round of 64, with his countrymen Matthew Blackey, Neil Cheetham and Simon Hurley in a tie for eighth on 10 under.Janice Moodie kept British hopes alive in the first Major of the women’s season, the LPGA Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills, California. The Scot finished three strokes behind the leader, Australia’s Rachel Teske, after the third round.Moodie shot a superb two-under-par 70 but Teske fired a tournament-best 66 to finish on 211 – one stroke ahead of Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam, the overnight leader Pat Hurst and Akiko Fukushima of Japan.It was a hugely disappointing day for Laura Davies, who needs this title to complete a career Grand Slam. She set out level with Moodie, but hit a 75 to finish eight shots off the lead. A three-putt par at the 526-yard last after she had hit the water-guarded green after two drives summed up her day.