Woods puts himself in contention as battle for Claret Jug turns intense
USA's Tiger Woods in action during Day Four of the British Open Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Tiger Woods may or may not win the 147th Open but he certainly is close to taking his tally of Majors to 15 after a long hiatus of 10 years and 40 Majors since his last success at the US Open in 2008.
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Yesterday, clad in his trademark red shirt and black trousers, Woods had the golfing fraternity on the edge of their seats as he whittled down the four-shot deficit to nothing and then went one ahead to grab sole lead for the first time. He stayed there for a while, before he dropped a double bogey and bogey in quick succession on 10th and 11th to fall to T-9 with five holes to play.
Woods tumbles
While Woods was tumbling down the mountain, from sole lead down to Tied-9th in two holes, Rory McIlroy, winless for 14 Majors since the 2014 PGA Championship, holed a monster eagle putt on Par-5 14th. That saw him jump to a share of the lead at 6-under and there he was with three holes to play.
And, what of the three overnight leaders. Defending champ Jordan Spieth dropped a bogey on fifth and double on sixth to fall to 6-under. Xander Schauffele was going all over the course and dropped fast from 9-under to 5-under before he picked a birdie on 10th. Kevin Kisner was riding a roller-coaster with a double on second and four other bogeys and two birdies as he fell from 9-under to 5-under.
Molinari shines
Francesco Molinari was the only bogey free player after 13 holes and in share of the lead with four others, including McIlroy, Kevin Chappell, Schauffele and Spieth. A lot of back nine is still left and the thrills and spills continued unabated as the final stretch, also called the "Sting in Carnoustie's Tail" awaits.
Shubhankar Sharma
Shubhankar Sharma cards 73 to finish T-51st
Carnoustie (Scotland): India's Shubhankar Sharma completed his eventful journey at the British Open with a final round of 73 that saw him finish at T-51st, a position that he will most certainly improve in the years to come as he hopes to play the Open every time his birthday comes around on July 21.
With two 73s book-ending a pair of 71s in the middle, he totaled 4-over 288 as the winds grew stronger. Sharma had birdies on second and fifth and then missed a couple of close ones. A sub-par round seemed to be on the cards.
But at the seventh hole, he was spoken to by a Rules official and it seemed to affect Sharma's concentration. The conversation was to speed up play but it took away Sharma's tempo and he finished with 73 after bogeys on 13th and 15th. "It was a tough finish for me but I started off well. I was hitting it good and then I lost my concentration and made some bogeys. I was trying to get the momentum back towards the end of the round," Sharma said.
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