Angel wings his way into healthy lead

2007-11-03

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By Colin Pereira Special to PA SportsTicker

Angel Cabrera kept his cool on a sweltering third day at the Barclays Singapore Open on Saturday to open up a four-shot lead at Sentosa Golf Club.

While many of his challengers struggled in the hot and windy conditions at the Serapong Course, the Argentine carded a 1-under-par 70 to move to 9-under 204 in the $3.95 million Asian Tour event.

Jin Park remained his closest challenger although the American dropped two shots on Cabrera after signing for a 1-over 72.

Lee Westwood is alone in third place at 4-under 209 after holing an eagle at the final hole for a even-par 71, while Vijay Singh and defending champion Adam Scott are at 3-under following rounds of 70 and 73, respectively.

World No. 2 Phil Mickelson had a tough time on the warmest day so far at Sentosa. The American dropped to 2-over after bogeying four of his first 12 holes. However, birdies at his final two holes of the day put him back at level par for the tournament.

Korean K.J. Choi dropped to 2-over after making a pair of double bogeys in his round of 75 while Darren Clarke picked up four bogeys and a double bogey to finish with a 76 and drop to 5-over.

Cabrera threatened to pull away from the field early on, moving to 10-under after birdies at the fourth and seventh. He cooled off on the back nine with bogeys at the 12th and 14th but put his 8-iron tee shot at the 17th to 25 feet and holed the birdie putt to finish the day on 9-under.

"I played quite a good round," the reigning U.S. Open champion said. "It was a working round because I had to work my way around. It was tough - the wind was picking up and the greens are getting very hard but I shot under par and I'm very happy.

"I've got a good advantage so I'll just to play my game and try to finish it off."

Park had an up-and-down day with three birdies and four bogeys, but the Asian Tour rookie was pleased that he was able to hold his game together despite feeling very nervous playing in the final group alongside Cabrera and world No. 6 Scott.

"It is a great feeling to be lying in second place," the 28-year-old from Phoenix said. "I have never been so nervous for all 18 holes in my life. I was a nervous wreck.

"The whole round was a blur, I was really nervous but I managed to play well and held in there. One over overall is a good score and obviously I'm in good shape (for the final round)."

Meanwhile, Westwood was counting his blessings after an eagle on the last hole to stay within five shots of Cabrera.

"Yeah, it was nice to finish with an eagle on the last after the triple on 16," Westwood said. "I made a couple of great shots and rolled in a nice putt from seven feet.

"All in all, it was a decent day. I got off to a poor start with a couple of three putts in the first five holes but battled away which you have to do on this golf course as it's playing tough out there."

With the mercury creeping up to 91 degrees at Sentosa, Westwood felt that the work that he put in on his fitness this year had paid off.

"I haven't felt like it's been really warm last week (in Indonesia) or this week," he said. "I've not been feeling like how I normally feel - I'm normally drained - but I'm coming off the golf course really fresh which is really a bonus. "It shows that the stuff that I'm doing in the gym is working."