Scintillating Harrington and Woods

set up final-day Firestone showdown

FROM THE SCOTSMAN SPORTS WEBSITE
By Simon Lewis in Akron, Ohio
Padraig Harrington and six-times champion Tiger Woods will contest a mouth-watering last-day duel for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational today after electrifying displays on the back nine in yesterday's third round.
Overnight leader Harrington reeled off four birdies in six holes from the 12th on the way to a three-under-par 67 at Firestone Country Club, stretching his advantage to three strokes.
Although the Irishman briefly faltered with a bogey at the par-5 16th, where he duffed his fourth shot from a greenside bunker, he drained a 19 footer on the 17th green to finish at 10-under-par 200.
Woods, seeking his fifth US PGA Tour victory of the year on one of his favourite lay-outs, birdied four of the last six holes for a superb 65, matching the best score of the day. The 14-times major winner, whose approach play and putting were in sizzling order, sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the last to secure second place at seven under.
South African Tim Clark, playing with Harrington in the final pairing, carded a 71 to lie five strokes off the lead in third with American Jerry Kelly, who posted a 69.
Open champion Stewart Cink, Masters winner Angel Cabrera and England's Oliver Wilson are among a group of ten players bunched at four under.
Woods, however, cast an ominous shadow over the rest of the elite field of 79, Harrington included. He has won the Bridgestone Invitational six times in just nine starts and said his game had improved since he clinched his 69th PGA Tour victory at the Buick Open last Sunday.
"I've made some improvements and I'm more confident in what I'm doing," said Woods after piling up six birdies and a sole bogey in wet conditions.
"This week I hit the ball pretty good, especially today on the back nine. I drove the ball pretty good all day and hit some really good iron shots in there today. I've always felt comfortable here, there's no doubt," he added of the tree-lined layout.
"Certain courses, no matter how I'm playing going in, I always feel very comfortable once I get there."
Harrington may not win a major this year, but he would willingly settle for a first World Golf Championships title.The three-time major winner will defend his USPGA Championship title at Hazeltine National next week after a season of toil while he modified his swing.
A return to form in Ohio, though, has left the Irishman with a three-stroke lead at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Harrington added a 69 on Friday to his opening 64 to lead the tournament by one stroke from Tim Clark at the halfway stage, and yesterday's 67 edged him closer to a first WGC title at an event in which he has previously failed to land a top-ten finish.
"I would like to win a World Golf event, yes," Harrington said. "I think I would like to have that on my CV. If it comes to comparing World Golf events to majors... I'd rather win another major than any World Golf event. But a World Golf event in itself is a big event. You've got all the best players playing. So yes, I think it would be very important to win one or some of them throughout my career."
A big finish at Firestone today followed by a good week at Hazeltine would also catapult Harrington into the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, allowing him to play in the end-of-season FedEx Cup play-offs, which start later this month with the Barclays tournament at Liberty National.
Harrington was 142nd in the standings heading into this tournament but refused to accept he should be embarrassed by the possibility of missing out. "There's no place for embarrassment on the golf course," he said. "I would never, ever, no matter what. I know I'm trying 100 per cent, so whatever my results are I can hold my head high and would never let that feeling."
*The full article contains 689 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Firestone Country Club, South Course, Akron, Ohio.
Par 210 (3x70)
200 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 64 69 67
203 Tiger Woods 68 70 65
205 Jerry Kelly 71 65 69, Tim Clark (Rsa) 66 68 71
206 Zach Johnson 67 70 69, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69 69 68, Lucas Glover 69 69 68, Woody Austin 69 68 69, Stewart Cink 69 69 68, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 68 68, Kenny Perry 69 71 66, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 69 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Rsa) 68 72 66, Mike Weir (Can) 71 66 69
207 Steve Stricker 67 69 71, Hunter Mahan 68 69 70, J.B. Holmes 70 72 65, David Toms 69 69 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 71 67
208 Chad Campbell 71 68 69, Pat Perez 70 72 66, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 66 70 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 74 67, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 70 68
209 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 67 71, Alvaro Quiros (Rsa) 72 65 72
210 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 71 68, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 73 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 71 70, Sergio Garcia (Rsa) 68 72 70, Scott Verplank 66 69 75, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72 67 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 71 70
211 Nick Watney 74 68 69, Ross Fisher (Eng) 70 71 70, Davis Love III 72 66 73, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 69 71 71, Darren Clarke (NIrl) 71 70 70, Charles Howell III 71 72 68, Dustin Johnson 70 71 70, Anthony Kim 72 68 71, Justin Leonard 70 71 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 72 69, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74 68 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 72 70
212 Justin Rose (Eng) 75 68 69, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 71 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 70 72
213 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71 72, Anthony Kang 71 76 66, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 72 70, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 72 72 69
214 Phil Mickelson 70 69 75, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 70 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 71 70, Cameron Beckman 71 71 72, Boo Weekley 69 69 76, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Rsa) 70 71 73
215 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 73 71 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 74 70
216 Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 73 75, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 75 70 71, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 75 70 71, Adam Scott (Aus) 78 67 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 73 71
217 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 70 75, Sean O'Hair 69 72 76, Jim Furyk 73 71 73
218 Ben Curtis 77 69 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 74 72
219 Nathan Green (Aus) 74 71 74, K J Choi (Kor) 74 72 73, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 74 72 73
220 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 77 70
222 Marc Turnesa 76 75 71
224 Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 74 75 75
225 Brian Gay 75 74 76
228 Shane Lowry (Irl) 78 78 72
230 Yuji Igarashi (Jpn) 74 83 73