TAMPA BAY, Fla. -- Stewart Cinks fortunes turned quickly in a vicious wind that never went away Saturday, running off three straight birdies for a 2-under 68 in the PODS Championship that likely puts him in the final group for the third time this year.Even better, Tiger Woods has the week off.
Cink went from a four-shot deficit to a two-shot lead in a span of five holes, and despite 30 mph wind and temperatures that plunged into the 50s, he didnt make a bogey until his final hole in near darkness when he came up short of the 18th green.
Even so, he was at 5-under 208 and was two shots clear of former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who also had a 69.
Cink played in the final group in the Buick Invitational, albeit eight shots behind Woods. The four-time PGA TOUR winner also reached the final match of the Accenture Match Play Championship, where Woods beat him 8 and 7.
Cink doesnt have the 54-hole lead quite yet.
Brandt Snedeker, who birdied his last hole in the morning to finish the second round with a one-shot lead, stretched that margin to four shots with a birdie on the seventh hole, and he had a 12-foot birdie putt on the eighth.
But he three-putted for bogey, and his momentum was gone. He dropped three more shots over the next five holes. Snedeker was 3 under and in the 16th fairway when the third round was suspended by darkness.
Billy Mayfair also was 3 under and on the 16th hole. Four other players failed to finish the third round and will return Sunday morning, hopeful the wind isnt bending 50-foot pines the way it did throughout Saturday, perhaps the toughest day of golf this year.
Im disappointed with two three-putts on the par 3s. They were both stupid, bone-headed mistakes, but those are going to happen, Mayfair said. Youve got to be patient.
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