Tiger builds a commanding lead at Cog Hill

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Tiger Woods started with a bogey. His best shot led to a par.

It turned out to be his best round of the year.

Getting better with every shot, Woods broke the course record at Cog Hill and blew away the field Saturday in the BMW Championship with a 9-under 62 that gave him a seven-shot lead.

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"After I got past the first hole I was doing all right," Woods said. "It was one of those days that kind of built upon itself."

Brandt Snedeker finished with four straight birdies for a 66 and will play with Woods for the first time Sunday. He could probably think of better circumstances.

"I've got to do something spectacular," Snedeker said, "and he's got to maybe have a heart attack out there for me to have a chance."

Marc Leishman had a two-shot lead when he made the turn. Could he have imagined shooting 1 over on the back nine and finding himself seven shots behind?

"You wouldn't think so," he said. "But like I say, it's Tiger."

The 62 tied the tournament record - an event that dates to 1899 - set last year by Jim Furyk at Bellerive outside St. Louis.

A course renovated by Rees Jones with hopes of landing a U.S. Open was no match for Woods, who was nearly nine shots better than the field, which averaged 70.71.

Woods was at 16-under 197 and had his largest lead on the PGA Tour since he was eight shots in front in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines early last year. He wound up winning by eight shots.

This was Woods at his finest, even though he wasn't flawless.

He dropped his 3-wood in disgust after his opening tee shot sailed to the left into a bunker, leading to a sloppy bogey. He followed that by missing a 10-foot birdie putt on the next hole. Woods started the third round tied for the lead, and already was three shots behind when he stood on the tee at the par-3 sixth and faced a dangerous pin - all the way to the left, protected by deep bunkers front and back.

"Even if you bail out to the right, it's a tough putt," Woods said. "The only thing you can't do there is go in the back bunker. That's one of the reasons why I didn't hit a 6-iron and try to hold it in there. But I had to hit the 7-iron really good to get it there, and I pulled it off."

From there, he never missed another green.

He considers his best shot a 6-iron out of the rough on the left side of the seventh fairway, which he needed to start left of the green to avoid a tree in front of him and yet keep it out of the bunker. It came out perfectly, and Woods gave a light fist pump, rare for an iron shot that stopped 15 feet away on the fringe.

The signature shot was a 3-wood from just over 300 yards to 10 feet at the par-5 ninth for an eagle, so pure that the gallery crammed into the bleacher rose to its feet when the ball finally stopped rolling.

Woods knocked it to take the outright lead, and it only got bigger.

It will be his first time with the 54-hole lead since the PGA Championship last month at Hazeltine, where Y.E. Yang made up a two-shot deficit and became the first player to beat Woods from behind in a major.

Yang is 25 shots behind at Cog Hill.

Snedeker was worried about keeping his card this summer until his health improved and his game turned around. Now he has a chance to move into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, which would qualify him for all the majors next year.

Winning this week? That's a taller task.

"Looks like Tiger is making it difficult on us," Snedeker said after closing with four straight birdies. "I'm playing fantastic. And the best thing is I fought extremely well out there."

Matt Kuchar improved his Tour Championship hopes with a 66 and was tied for fourth at 205 with Padraig Harrington (69).

It was Harrington who got Woods' attention early in the third round. The Irishman birdied three straight holes, chipping in on the fourth hole from deep rough, while Leishman birdied four straight in the middle of the front nine to reach 10 under.

Woods stood on the sixth tee three shots behind. Four holes later, he had the lead to himself. And midway through the back nine, when he was firing at flags and holing putts, the tournament seemed to be over.

"It was just a round that, as I said, kind of built upon itself, and I just kind of gradually kept hitting good shots, then making a couple of putts here and there," he said. "And lo and behold, I end up at 9-under par."

Woods will be going for his sixth victory of the year and his fifth at Cog Hill on Sunday, which would put him atop the FedEx Cup standings going to the Tour Championship in two weeks.

For everyone else, it's a matter of getting there.

Seven players among the top 10 are currently outside the top 30 required to get into East Lake. Snedeker would not have figured to be one of those players three months ago, when he was returning from a rib injury.

"I didn't think I was going to have a job in July," Snedeker said. "My whole goal was to secure my card. Now I'm back to my original goal of trying to make the Tour Championship. Any time you get to the Tour Championship, it's been a good year."

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Ray Romano going to golf doctor for reality show

NEW YORK (AP) Comic Ray Romano is going to the golf doctor.

The Golf Channel says the ``Everybody Loves Raymond'' star will be the focus of its new reality series, ``The Haney Project.'' The series follows Tiger Woods' swing coach Hank Haney as he tries to improve the game of a celebrity.

The first season of ``The Haney Project'' with former NBA player Charles Barkley was the second-highest rated program in the network's history. Only ``The Big Break,'' about competing for a spot on the professional tour, did better. The Golf Channel started in 1995.

Barkley's appeal was his hideously bad swing. Funnyman Romano, who's ``obsessed'' with golf and wants to get better, will add entertainment value to the show, said Tom Spathakes, the network's programming chief.

The Romano project is expected to air in March.

The Golf Channel is trying to become more than just putts and slices. ``Law & Order'' actor Anthony Anderson is host of a news program called ``Golf in America,'' and the network is filming a reality series about troubled golfer John Daly.

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With mother ailing, Stanford in contention again

ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — Angela Stanford needed some time to adjust to her family's new challenge. After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she struggled on the course in July and early August.

"I really thought I was going to handle it better, and I didn't right off the bat," Stanford said. "Now, it is a new normal. ... We know what's going to happen, and we know it's going to be a good end. So that makes it a lot easier."

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Stanford shot a 2-under 69 Saturday to move to second place at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. She trails Song-Hee Kim by two strokes heading into the final round.

Stanford's season began in promising fashion with a victory at the SBS Open and two more top 10 finishes. In late June, however, she announced that her mother, Nan Stanford, would soon begin chemotherapy.

In her next tournament, Stanford finished tied for 49th. She then missed the cut at the U.S. Women's Open and finished tied for 52nd at the Evian Masters.

After tying for 20th in the Women's British Open, Stanford played in the Solheim Cup, and her mother made the trip to Illinois to be with her. Since then, Stanford has finished in the top 10 in two straight tournaments and will try to win this one Sunday on the 6,244-yard course at Pinnacle Country Club.

Her mother is about halfway through chemotherapy, and Stanford says she's doing well.

"I think it's probably going to be tough the next nine weeks, because from what I understand, when the chemo is building in your body, it gets harder," Stanford said. "But I just keep telling her, you know, there's a positive end. There's going to be an end to this, and so she's doing great right now."

Stanford shot a 37 on the front nine, six strokes worse than her first-round performance. She made up for that with birdies on Nos. 11, 14 and 18.

Kim shot a 68 despite hitting only 6 of 13 fairways. The 21-year-old South Korean is trying for her first win on the LPGA Tour.

"I had to be patient today," she said. "I made a lot of up-and-downs, and I made a lot of good par putts."

Kim has played par 5s in 6 under in the first two rounds of the 54-hole event. She said Friday she'd been feeling tired because this was her fourth tournament in four weekends, but now any fatigue might be wiped out by adrenaline.

"I cannot wait to play tomorrow," she said.

Sandra Gal was the first-round leader at 7 under, but she shot a 76 Saturday. That was reminiscent of her struggles at the Women's British Open, when she shot a 69 in the first round and followed it up with an 80.

Na Yeon Choi shot the low round Saturday with a 65 and is in a three-way tie for third, a shot behind Stanford. The wind picked up a bit for the second round, resulting in higher scores.

Jane Park (70) was at 5 under and well within striking distance, especially if she can repeat her final-round 62 from this event last year. She finished one shot behind winner Seon Hwa Lee in 2008.

"It's good to be in the mix," Park said. "The course is definitely playing harder with the wind, as every course does."

Lee (68) is unlikely to repeat at even par, but she did make the cut. So did Cristie Kerr (70) and Michelle Wie (70). They are at 3 under, a stroke ahead of Paula Creamer (70), Natalie Gulbis (69) and Morgan Pressel (69).

Local hope Stacy Lewis, the former University of Arkansas golfer who won the 2007 NCAA championship, bounced back with a 67 in the second round after playing the first in 2 over. Kelli Shean, who currently plays for the Razorbacks, also shot a 67 to qualify for Sunday's final round at 1 over.

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US wins 3rd straight Walker Cup

ARDMORE, Pa.(AP) After three straight one-point decisions in the Walker Cup, United States captain Buddy Marucci wondered if the teams were again headed toward a final-hole showdown.

Boasting a six-point lead heading into the Sunday singles, member of the U.S. team struggled in the middle of their rounds, giving a glimmer of hope to a Great Britain and Ireland team desperate to end a two-match losing streak.

But the Americans steadied their games and won their third straight Walker Cup, claiming five singles matches and halving another for a 16 1/2-9 1/2 victory over GB&I at Merion Golf Club.

``I felt quietly confident ... but memories of Royal County Down weren't that far away,'' said Marucci, recalling the U.S. team's dramatic final-hole 12 1/2-11 1/2 victory in 2007.

``But I just thought there was too much talent not to win 2 1/2 points.''

When it was over, Marucci, a Merion member who grew up just off the eighth green, choked back tears at the closing ceremony.

``The true spirit of Merion came out this week, and it comes out every time there is a championship,'' the 57-year-old said.

This weekend, on the same layout where Bobby Jones played his first and last U.S. Amateur and completed the Grand Slam in 1930, the U.S. team eased away for a dominating victory in the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup.

Americans Rickie Fowler and Peter Uihlein won all four of their weekend matches, and Cameron Tringale won in an 8-and-6 romp in the third-largest winning margin by a U.S. player in singles.

Fowler's victory punctuated a solid amateur career. Tringale's victory ensured the U.S. would retain the title, and Uihlein's 3-and-1 victory over Stiggy Hodgson won it outright.

The U.S. team's margin of victory was the largest since an 18-6 win in 1997, at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. The Americans lead the series 34-7-1.

The U.S. team needed two points in the Sunday singles to retain the cup and 2 1/2 to win the championship after going 3-1 in the morning's alternate-shot matches that provided an 11-5 advantage.

Bud Cauley halved his singles with Chris Paisley and finished 3-0-1 for the U.S., which also got individual wins from Morgan Hoffmann and Brendan Gielow.

Marucci won his second straight title as U.S. captain.

``They gave me more than I will ever be able to give back,'' said Marucci, the 2008 U.S. Senior Amateur champion and two-time Walker Cup player.

Scotland's Gavin Dear, in the first singles pairing, tried to kick-start a GB&I comeback, posting a 3-and-2 victory over Brian Harman.

``I like going out early. I feel as though I can go up,'' Dear said. ``If the guys see that score, maybe it could give them some kind of incentive or a bit of confidence.''

But the six-point deficit after the morning session proved too big an obstacle to overcome for the GB&I under captain Colin Dalgleish, who dropped his second in a row and was openly disappointed.

``I kind of feel that the 10 players we had here are better players and played better than the result would suggest, which is very frustrating for everybody involved here,'' Dalgleish said.

Sam Hutsby, Tommy Fleetwood and Niall Kearney supplied GB&sI's other singles wins.

Fowler and Uihlein, teammates at Oklahoma State along with Hoffmann, starred for the U.S. squad.

Delaying turning pro until after his second straight Walker Cup, Fowler played the 18th hole just once, Sunday morning when he and Cauley prevailed 1-up.

The 20-year-old from Murrieta, Calif., closed out his amateur career on the 17th hole and got a hearty handshake and hug from Marucci.

``This is the reason I stayed an amateur,'' said Fowler, whose first pro event will be on the Nationwide Tour next week in Idaho. ``Being here, in Buddy's backyard, and winning it tops it all off.''

He finished with a 7-1 Walker Cup record, unbeaten in four foursomes, and 3-1 in singles.

Uihlein was one of the last two picks to the 10-man team, and he justified his selection by going undefeated.

``I just tried to do the best I could,'' the 20-year-old from Orlando said. ``It was a pretty special week.''

Uihlein teamed with Nathan Smith, the oldest member of the American squad at 31, for a pair of alternate-shot victories and had wins of 2-and-1 and 3-and-1 in singles.

After three straight losses from 1999-2003, the Americans followed victories at Chicago Golf Club in Illinois and Royal County Down in Northern Ireland with a win at venerable Merion East, which was hosting a record 18th USGA championship.

The U.S. won three straight from 1983-87 as part of an eight-title run between 1973 and 1987. GB&I won three straight titles from 1999-2003, before the current U.S. run.

The Americans raced to a 3-1 lead after Saturday's alternate-shot matches and held an 8-4 edge after the first day following three wins and four halves in afternoon singles.

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Hanson leads trio by 1 stroke at Mercedes-Benz

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Peter Hanson of Sweden leads three players by one stroke at the Mercedes-Benz Championship after shooting a 5-under 67 in the third round.

Hanson was at 11-under 205 on Saturday after beginning the round three shots behind Scott Strange of Australia and Chris Wood of England. Hanson is trying to give Sweden its third straight victory on the European Tour.

Simon Dyson of England (68), Soren Hansen of Denmark (70) and James Kingston of South Africa (70) are at 206.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden was two shots back after a 69. Lee Westwood of England was six behind after a 72 and Europe's Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie of Scotland (71) was seven adrift.

Wood (73) was three shots behind, one ahead of Strange (74).

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Los Angeles CC to host 2017 Walker Cup

FAR HILLS, N.J.(AP) The Los Angeles Country Club has been selected by the USGA to host the 2017 Walker Cup.

The competition will be held on the North Course, which opened in 1921.

The event will be the third USGA event at the club. The 1930 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 1954 U.S. Junior Amateur were also held on the course originally designed by W. Herbert Fowler.

The only Walker Cup to be held in California was in 1981 at Cypress Point.

The biennial amateur competition is being played this week at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

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Rookies Wie, Lewis eye breakthrough in NW Ark

ROGERS, Ark.(AP) Michelle Wie might not even be the most watched rookie at this week's LPGA Tour event.

Stacy Lewis, who won the 2007 NCAA championship while at the University of Arkansas, will be on familiar turf for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. Lewis was the first-round leader at this event two years ago, when the rest of it was called off because of bad weather.

``It's become home for me the last couple years, so it's so nice to be back and sleeping in my own bed this week,'' Lewis said. ``It's always fun to play this golf course. It's one I've played since I came here in school.''

Pinnacle Country Club is about a 15-minute drive from where Lewis went to college, and she's played in this event since it started in 2007. Last year Lewis finished tied for 49th. She said she was exhausted after a week of distractions.

Lewis hasn't won on tour, but she led the U.S. Women's Open after three rounds last year before finishing five shots back. That only increased expectations for the Rogers event, and Lewis struggled after a good start.

``It was the week after the U.S. Open, and just the magnitude of that. I wasn't prepared for it,'' Lewis said. ``I was looking forward to this year, because I knew what to expect. I knew what was coming, and I knew the week was going to be busy.''

Wie, of course, is also trying for her elusive first win. Like Lewis, she showed potential long before this, her rookie season on the LPGA Tour. Wie finished in the top five of four straight majors in 2005-06, and although she struggled after that, she's now showing signs of a breakthrough. She's 17th on the money list this year despite missing the cut last weekend at the Canadian Women's Open.

``I think it's, you know, a learning experience for me. I have never done this before. My parents have never done this before,'' Wie said. ``So I make really good decisions, which I'm proud of, and I make bad decisions, which I learn from.''

Wie has finished in the top 10 six times this year and helped the U.S. win the Solheim Cup last month. She went 3-0-1 in that event, showing some of the form that made her a phenom before she was sidetracked by injuries and other missteps.

``I've known her since she was 12 years old, and we've become very good friends. She is a great kid. She really is,'' said Cristie Kerr, the tour's leading money winner this year. ``And I say 'kid' because she's still 19. I'm 31 now.''

Wie should be a crowd favorite again this week, but she'll have plenty of company, from hometown hope Lewis to other big names like Kerr, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim.

Creamer has been battling the flu and bronchitis recently.

``I'm starting to get my strength back,'' she said Wednesday. ``I haven't been able to work out just because my body's been so weak.''

Seon Hwa Lee is also in the field after winning the event last year.

Lewis said she's happy with the field, considering the tournament is sandwiched between last weekend's event in Canada and next weekend's in California.

``I think this tournament is starting to become a better event every year,'' Lewis said. ``Good players are talking about it more early in the season and looking forward to it.''

Just imagine how popular the tournament would be if the weather would cooperate. The 2007 event was called off after 18 holes, and rain was a factor last year too. This week, Wednesday's Pro-Am was shortened because of rain.

``I think it's going to be a long week again,'' Lewis said. ``When the LPGA comes to town, the rain comes to town.''

The event is presented by John Q. Hammons.

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