Geoff Ogilvy leads, Tiger Woods' streak in danger in weather-delayed WGC-CA Championship at Doral's Blue Monster

From WorldGolf.com News Services

A three-hour weather delay Sunday in the WGC-CA Championship meant Geoff Ogilvy had to spend another night sleeping on the lead with several of the world's top golfers looming in his rear-view mirror.

Ogilvy, who has been at or near the top of the leaderboard throughout the tournament at Doral Golf Resort & Spa's Blue Monster Course, was 17 under par and owned a two-stroke leader over Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh when darkness suspended play. The tournament was scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. EDT Monday.

"It's a good leaderboard," Ogilvy told reporters. "That's what the whole point of these golf tournaments was."

With all the rain and lightning delays that took place over the weekend, the event has becoming a grueling one. For that reason, Ogilvy joked that he didn't think he'd have any trouble sleeping Sunday night.

"I kind of didn't really have the lead with one round to play when I went to sleep last night, because we were still on the 12th tee, so it seems like quite a long time ago, you know?" Ogilvy said. "I'm sure I'll be thinking about it a little bit tonight, but that's natural."

While Ogilvy is bidding for his first victory since the 2006 U.S. Open, perhaps the larger story is that Tiger Woods' winning streak is hanging by a thread. The winner of five consecutive PGA Tour events and seven straight tournaments worldwide entering the tournament, Woods is at 12-under par with just seven holes left to play.

Unless Woods somehow pulls off a miraculous comeback, the world No. 1-ranked player will likely look back at the third round as his downfall. With a host of players posting scores in the mid to low 60s, Woods carded an even-par round of 72.

While Ogilvy is understandably reluctant to count Woods completely out of the hunt, he said there are obviously several other players who represent more immediate threats.

In addition to Furyk being two shots back with eight holes to play and Singh two behind with nine to play, Retief Goosen and Graeme Storm are at 14 under with eight and nine holes remaining, respectively.

Steve Stricker is in the clubhouse tied for sixth at 13 under 275, sharing the position on the leaderboard with Adam Scott, who has eight holes to play. Woods is tied for eighth with Nick O'Hern, who is through 12 holes.

"To win the golf tournament, you've got to beat everyone else in the field," said Ogilvy, who had a 60-hole bogey-free streak in the tournament. "(Woods) obviously ... in his own mind, I'm sure he probably thinks he has a chance, and we've seen him do crazy things before.

"But Jim and Vijay have won a fair few tournaments, and Adam has won a few tournaments, and there are some pretty tough players right up there. He doesn't only have to catch me, he's got to catch me and pass Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen and Adam Scott. It's a pretty stellar leaderboard. I've got my work cut out just beating any of those guys."

Furyk said just trying to mentally stay in the round was difficult. Play was suspended in the third round Saturday after three inches of rain fell in a three-hour span in the afternoon.

The final round didn't begin until nearly noon Sunday after third-round play was completed in the morning. Then came a three-hour delay due to lightning threats, which eventually left 53 players on the course who will have to come back Monday morning.

"It's just tiring," Furyk told reporters. "Coming in and then driving back out, not even getting to play a hole, driving back in. I warmed up four times today.

"I'm pretty spent, pretty tired, and I get to wake up at 5:30 and do it all over again tomorrow."

Ogilvy said it was evident to him early in the afternoon that the tournament was headed for a Monday finish.

"I've had it in my head for quite a long time that we were going to finish Monday," Ogilvy said. "So it's not a big deal."

March 24, 2008