Tiger Tied For First In Third Round of Abu Dhabi

I just finished watching the third round of the Abu Dhabi, having spent most of the morning at the doctor’s trying to figure out why my face hurt so badly. Turns out I have a “stone” in a salivary duct. It’s every bit as bad a pain as when I had my wisdom teeth out a couple of years ago. At any rate, I’m now home and trying to catch up on the action at Torrey Pines.

Wood’s third round was vintage Tiger. With just a few mistakes, he managed to get around in 66. Robert Rock of England, however, matched that and will play with Woods tomorrow. Rock, if you’ll remember, made a name for himself with a strong beginning at last year’s US Open, after running into customs and immigration issues on his way in, and drove through the night to make his tee time.

Neither is likely to have an easy time of it tomorrow, for hanging just two shots back is a formidable bunch, including Rory McIlroy (who would be in the lead group but for a two shot penalty for brushing sand), Francesco Molinari, Peter Hanson and Paul Lawrie.

I’m planning to get up early to see the fireworks. I predicted that Tiger would not win on Tour this year, but it looks like a European Tour victory may be in the offing.