Singh leads Allan and Mallinger by one shot at Canadian Open  PGATOUR.com Contributor MARKHAM, Ont. -- Vijay Singh might have kept a lot of golfers in the hunt Sunday at Angus Glen North for the final round of the Canadian Open presented by Franklin Templeton Investments. Including Vijay Singh.  Vijay Singh had three bogeys Saturday after carding only two through his first two rounds. (Frank Gunn/AP)
The world No. 7-ranked player from Fiji took control of Saturday's third round with three birdies in five holes and opened a two-shot lead on the field. But a couple of late wobbles left him leading by only one shot over Steve Allan and John Mallinger with another 10 golfers, including defending champion Jim Furyk, within four shots. Singh finished his day at 3-under-par 68 for a 54-hole total of 12-under 201, a total Allan threatened moments later until sailing his approach shot long at the final hole and making bogey for a round of 1-under 70. Mallinger also shot 70 Saturday. "I'm kind of disappointed with the way I finished. I thought I played much better than a 68 out there,'' Singh said. "I did a lot of things that I normally wouldn't do, but that's the way golf is, I guess. Hopefully, I can limit those mistakes and finish the job.'' Singh, the Canadian Open champion in 2004, when he defeated Mike Weir in a playoff at nearby Glen Abbey, had little trouble early on the tricky greens and strengthened hole locations at Angus Glen. He made five birdies and a bogey on the first 11 holes and led by two, but ran into a spot of trouble at the 13th hole, driving into deep rough and missing an eventual 18-footer for par. Singh immediately dropped a wedge in to eight feet at the 14th for birdie to return to 13 under and the lead, but made a three-putt par at the 15th and hit an errant approach shot to the 16th for another bogey to let the field stay close. "I guess you could say it that way, but at the same time, you get good breaks out there as well. I made a few good up-and-downs and got away with a bad tee shot on No. 11. At the end of the day, it evens out. But not making birdie at the (par-5) 15th, then bogey at the 16th, these are things I normally take advantage of,'' Singh said. "Hopefully, I can fix all those problems.'' He said there were some difficult hole locations, on gentle slopes. "They don't look that difficult from the fairways, but once you get to the greens, they put pins -- I've never seen pins on those slopey parts that we normally play on," he explained. "Normally it's pretty flat. But this week that have managed to find some really difficult ones that even we shake our heads at when we finish the hole." Allan, who had nothing going on in a 1-over front nine, jumped back into a share of the lead with Singh after birdies at the 11th, 14th and 15th. A beautiful little par save at the par-3 17th kept the round going, but a wedge sailed long on him at the 18th and cost bogey. Still, he said he was looking forward to playing in the final group. "If I can pull off a win on the PGA TOUR, what better way to do it than playing in the last group,'' the Australian native said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to play in the last group and the idea is to compete and beat the best, so I'm looking forward to it.'' Hunter Mahan, who followed an opening 62 with a second-round 74, jumped back into it with a 67 for 203 to sit alone in fourth place. Pat Perez posted 66 to creep up to 9-under 204 and a tie for fifth with Furyk, who finished with 69. A large group at 8-under 205 is composed of George McNeill (66), Bob Heintz (67) Glen Day (68), Tom Pernice Jr. (69), Bo Van Pelt (69), Brandt Snedeker (70) and Ryan Palmer (71). |
