Woods’ Day, and Chances, End Early

Maybe the only good thing about Tiger Woods’ round was that he got it in before the heavy rain started early Saturday afternoon. Woods shot a one-over 72 and is tied for 44th at three-under 210.

After he rolled in a 24-foot putt from above the hole to birdie the 18th, Woods signed his scorecard and left without speaking to reporters.

Woods had four birdies and five bogeys, the worst stretch when he bogeyed both of the par-three holes on the front -- the fourth and sixth -- and three-putted to bogey the eighth. He hit it in a bunker on the sixth.

The 236-yard fourth has been a major pain to Woods so far. In three rounds, he has played it three over. Woods is four over on Riviera’s four par-threes. He’s four under on No. 1 but only one under on the two other par-five holes.

Right after making the turn at two over, Woods birdied the 10th and the 460-yard 12th, where he hit his second shot to two feet. But then he made a bogey at the 13th after missing the green and then bogeyed the par-three 14th when he took a drop because of an embedded lie.

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Woods may not be playing up to his usual standards, but at least one competitor has no doubts the top-ranked player in the world will soon return to form.

“He’s still the best that’s in the game,” Fred Funk said. “A lot of guys have risen up to him a little bit, but he’s still the best. There’s not one weakness that he has, so when he’s on his game, he’s not very beatable. I think he’s still the man to beat week in and week out.”

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Billy Andrade, who turned 40 three weeks ago, has a new look. It’s a buzz cut that matches the one his 9-year-old son, James, got after being egged on by his daughter, Grace, who is 6.

Andrade notices the difference already.

“Well, my head is a little cooler,” he said. “I also feel like I’m a couple of pounds lighter.”

Because of his new hairdo, Andrade said he has been mistaken for Sergio Garcia a couple of times.

Andrade had a special guest in attendance Saturday to see his new ‘do up close. Former baseball slugger Mark McGwire joined Andrade in the scoring room.

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Kevin Sutherland might describe his second shot on the ninth hole as trashy. Hitting from the left-side fairway bunker, Sutherland pushed his shot to the right and it landed -- on the fly -- in a garbage can. Sutherland got a free drop but couldn’t get up and down and made bogey.

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Shigeki Maruyama, a Japanese citizen who lives in Los Angeles, has a theory about why Canadian Mike Weir was able to pull away from the field despite cold, wet conditions during most of the third round.

“I hate cold weather,” said Maruyama, who began the day tied with Weir for the lead but trails by five heading into the final round. “But Mike is from Canada so perhaps that’s why he played better. He is used to the cold weather.”

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Charles Howell III was runner-up after losing a playoff to Weir last year, but a repeat is unlikely. He shot 75 Saturday and fell into a tie for 75th.

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Woods will play John Rollins, Vijay Singh will play Shingo Katayama, Davis Love III will play Briny Baird and Mike Weir will play Rich Beem in the first round of this week’s $7-million Accenture Match Play Championship in Carlsbad.

The complete 64-player bracket won’t be official until Monday, but Woods, Singh, Love and Weir are the top four players in the rankings, because Ernie Els and Jim Furyk are out. Beem, Baird, Katayama and Rollins are the bottom four.