LA JOLLA, California — Gary Woodland forged one shot clear at the top of a tight leaderboard in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Saturday, while Tiger Woods crashed out of the tournament with an ugly 79. American Woodland fired a two-under par round of 70 to move to eight-under 208 for the tournament, one shot clear of countryman Jordan Spieth and Australian Marc Leishman. Overnight leader Spieth found the tougher South Course a different animal with a 75 while Leishman ground out a 72 to be at seven-under. Americans Pat Perez (72) and Morgan Hoffman (72) are tied for fourth at six-under while South African Rory Sabbatini (69), Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (69) and Americans Will MacKenzie (70) and Scott Stallings (72) are among those tied for sixth a shot further back. “I played beautifully today. I drove the ball well, really controlled the golf ball into the greens, which is huge,” Woodland said. Defending champion Woods plunged to new depths when he missed a secondary cut on the PGA Tour for the first time. Though he made the second-round cut by a stroke Friday after carding a one-under-par 71 on the easier North Course, the world No. 1 was badly out of sorts on a difficult day for scoring as he labored to a 79 on the brutal South layout. Playing the back nine first, Woods sat one-under on his round through his first eight holes before imploding. He made back-to-back double bogeys on the 18th and first holes and then added five straight bogeys for a nine-over stretch of seven holes. A birdie on the seventh and a chip-in par on the eighth brought a wry smile to his face before he parred the final hole to avoid shooting his first score of 80 or worse in the United States as a professional. It was still his worst ever score at the event, which he has won a record seven times, and ensured he missed the third-round cut for the leading 70 players and ties. Woodland rolled along in the opposite direction, with four birdies in his opening 14 holes catapulting him to 10-under and a three-shot cushion at the top. He traded a bogey on the 15th with a birdie on the 16th but a costly double on his penultimate hole bit heavily into his advantage and left 22 players within four strokes of the lead. Choi in charge in Bahamas South Korea's Choi Na-yeon birdied three of her last four holes Saturday to seize a one-shot third-round lead at the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic. The seven-time LPGA Tour winner posted a seven-under par 66 for a 15-under total of 204 and had a one-stroke lead over American Lizette Salas — whose own 66 put her on 205. Overnight leader Jessica Korda and playing partner Paula Creamer both eagled the par-five 18th to grab a share of third place on 12-under 207. Korda carded a 72. Her eagle at the last, where she landed her second shot within two feet, helped counter a double-bogey at 13. Creamer's closing eagle helped her overcome a triple bogey from the water at 15. She carded a 71. Stacy Lewis, the highest-ranked player in the field at number three in the world, carded a 68 and jumped into a share of fifth on 208. She was tied with Amelia Lewis (66) and Monday qualifier Jenny Suh (71). New Zealand 16-year-old Lydia Ko, playing her first tournament as an LPGA Tour member, carded a 71 that left her in a group of six players on 209. Ko, who turned pro last year after a stellar amateur career, is the second-highest ranked player in the field at No. 4 in the world. Both Choi and Salas played without a bogey Saturday. Salas briefly grabbed sole possession of the lead after her seventh birdie of the day at the 15th. She couldn't find another birdie however, and Choi notched the last two of her seven birdies at 16 and 18 to gain the lead. — Agencies
