Tiger in Thick of Pack on Sutherland's Heels

By THOMAS BONK

Feb. 20, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Can’t anybody here putt this thing? Let’s try something different today for the last round of the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club, something like actually having a putt drop in the hole and not writing a six or seven after it . . . and not complaining about heel prints or bad bounces or how the grass is cut.

The scariest shots in Saturday’s third round were the shortest ones. Imagine what Jesper Parnevik discovered when he four-putted the par-three fourth hole and made a double bogey.

“It’s not fun,” Parnevik said.

You know, for real fun, don’t four-putt. Try having your caddie drive a cart over your foot. It’s the same great feeling.

David Sutherland is one step ahead of a cast of thousands as the fourth round begins at Riviera, the place where putts come to die.

Sutherland, who turns 34 today, celebrated a day early with a 68 that served two purposes. Not only did it move him out front at nine-under 204, it also prevented what would have been a seven-way tie for the lead.

Sutherland said nothing really exciting happened in his round.

“I’m not exactly Tiger Woods here,” he said.

Meanwhile, the actual Tiger Woods probably would have been right there too, if he had avoided a three-putt bogey at No. 17 or an even uglier four-putt double-bogey six at No. 13. When he got to the 14th tee, Woods punched the hole-in-one sign. He didn’t miss that one.

Woods recovered nicely and turned in a 69 that leaves him only three shots behind.

However, Woods was not a happy putter when he finished his round. In fact, he was downright angry. That’s because of an incident with a photographer on the fairway at No. 9, his closing hole, when the photographer started the motor drive on his camera in Woods’ backswing. Even though Woods made his par, he had a few strong words for a group of innocent photographers at the green and offered only brief comments to reporters on his way out.

“Other than a four-putt and a three-putt and missed a whole bunch of putts and a couple of bad chips and a couple of bad drives, I did all right to hang in there and give myself a chance,” Woods said.

The way it looks right now, there are a lot of people with a chance. Parnevik, Kirk Triplett, Bob Tway, Rocco Mediate, Tommy Armour III and Brandel Chamblee find themselves in a cozy group at eight-under 205.

Mediate’s 64 was the low round of the day, and if he didn’t have much trouble getting putts to drop, then he was one of the few. Parnevik is known for his putting nearly as much as he is for the flipped-up bill of his cap, but he had trouble solving problems involving golf balls rolling toward holes.

The greens are softened by rain and they show heel prints, footprints and marks that make the ball bounce instead of roll, Parnevik said.

“If they bounce a little bit, you have a five-footer coming back,” he said.

After you four-putt, there are only two ways to go, Parnevik said.

“You can keep making bogeys or you pull yourself out of it,” he said. “But the problem when you are putting, what’s going on in the back of your head, you see the footprints and heel marks and you try to force the ball in the hole.”

Fred Couples, a two-time champion at Riviera, shot a 68 to move into a 12-way tie at seven-under 206 and put himself squarely in the corner of Riviera’s greens.

“I didn’t see too many balls do too many crazy things,” Couples said. “It’s kind of hard for me to complain about the greens as good as they are compared to how bad they have been.”

Even if Parnevik can’t figure out how to make an easy putt, he knows one thing for certain. He says there will be a playoff for sure, which is understandable when there are 18 players within two shots of the lead and 28 within three.

“Somebody will shoot 65 to win with that many guys bunched up,” Couples said.

Parnevik said watch out for Woods: “The way he is playing, he can shoot pretty much zero.”

The 10-player group at six-under 207 features Woods and David Duval, the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players in the world. Woods and Duval are in the same threesome today, along with J.P. Hayes, who is at seven under.

As for Sutherland, he’s in the last group and hoping for the best. The Fresno State graduate with the history degree, who is a Civil War buff and is sponsored by a jelly bean company, has been working with a sports psychologist to try to keep himself from thinking ahead.

He was too “outcome oriented,” said Sutherland, who couldn’t quite keep from thinking about a potential winning outcome of his own.

“The one thing about having so many people so close, at least it gives you a chance to do something great,” he said. “That’s easier said than done, but whatever happens, it should be a great experience.

“I haven’t won six of my last seven tournaments [like Woods]. Golly, I haven’t won one tournament.”

NISSAN OPEN LEADERS

David Sutherland: 67-69-68--204 -9

Bob Tway: 66-67-72--205 -8

Brandel Chamblee: 71-65-69--205 -8

Tommy Armour III: 68-68-69--205 -8

Rocco Mediate: 71-70-64--205 -8

Jesper Parnevik: 71-67-67--205 -8

Kirk Triplett: 67-70-68--205 -8

OTHERS

Lee Janzen: 70-67-69--206 -7

Jay Haas: 70-67-69--206 -7