Winds in China fail to blow Scot off course

MARC WARREN OUTSCORES
TIGER AGAIN TO BE IN
4th PLACE BEHIND GOOSEN

South African Retief Goosen soared in the winds at the HSBC Champions on Saturday, battling to a three-under-par 69 for a one-stroke third round lead.
The two-time Major champion pulled ahead of Korea's Yang Yong-eun, who carded the day's best of 67 at Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai while overnight leader Jyoti Randhawa of India slipped to third after a battling 72.
The roar of the Tiger was stifled by the buffeting winds that hit the Chinese metropolitan as the world No 1 left himself with a mountain to climb after a 73 pt him five shots off the pace in tied fifth place with England's Paul Casey and Italian Francesco Molinari
The smooth-swinging Goosen, who has a three-day total of 12-under-par 204, is bidding for a Chinese hat-trick at the US$5 milllion event, Asia's richest, as he successfully defended his Volkswagen Masters-China title on the Asian Tour last month.
"Whenever you're leading into the final round, it's great. I've got somebody tomorrow that I have to watch out that I don't know. Yang is obviously playing extremely well. Obviously Tiger is still in there. We know what he's capable of. Hopefully it's not as windy and cold as it was today," said Goosen, who carded five birdies against two bogeys.
Goosen, the world's No. 6, recently hired a swing coach, Gregor Jamieson, for the first time in nine years and is reaping immediate rewards. Apart from winning in China last month, he was also fourth in the Tour Championship in the US last week.
"I'm feeling quite comfortable with the course. Today was a tough day to get through. I probably thought one‑under or somewhere around there would be a good round, but to shoot three‑under is a good."
High winds threw the field off course but Marc Warren from East Kilbride, the European Tour Rookie of the Year, outscored Tiger Woods for the second time with a 70 for 207 - two ahead of Tiger. The Scot, pictured above, is in fourth place on his own, only three shots behind leader Goosen.
A day after equalling the course record of 64, Woods failed to warm the hearts of thousands of Chinese fans who braved the winds and chilly conditions. He was especially frustrated to drop two closing bogeys, the last after a wayward drive found water.
"As good as it was yesterday it was as bad as it was today. That goes from the full swing to the shorter swing with the putter. I was just struggling all day," said Woods.
"I was just trying to hang in there, trying not to be too far behind the leaders. The last two holes, I put myself on my back. I will have to shoot a great round tomorrow and hope that it's enough. Goose is a tough man to catch, he's playing solid but I've got to go out there and take care of my own business. We'll see what happens."
Leading third round scores
204 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68-67-69.
205 - Yang Yong-eun (Kor) 66-72-67
206 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-69-72
207 - Marc Warren (Sco) 66-71-70
209 - Tiger Woods (US) 72-64-73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72-68-69, Paul Casey (Eng) 73-68-68
210 - Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67-70-73, John Bickerton (Eng) 68-71-71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70-69-71, Luke Donald (Eng) 70-69-71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76-64-70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 73-68-69.
211 - K J Choi (Kor) 68-72-71, Bradley Dredge (Wal) 71-70-70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68-74-69.
212 - Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71-67-74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72-69-71.
213 - Michael Campbell (NZ) 66-70-77, Jim Furyk (US) 73-66-74, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72-70-71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 75-67-71
214 - Anton Haig (SAf) 71-71-72
215 - Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70-76, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72-69-74, Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 72-72-71, Kevin Stadler (US) 74-70-71.

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