Page B4 THE DAILY HERALD, (www.HarkTheHerald.com), Provo, Utah, Saturday, June 2, 2001 fetageo' leads Memorial' Singh, Woods, Garcia hot on heels of 1993 winner By TIM DAHLBERG AP Sports Writer DUBLIN, Ohio Tiger Woods walked off the course in near darkness, pleased that he had managed to keep his focus through a long, soggy day of golf. Sergio Garcia quickly followed, happy that he and Woods could be rivals for another day. Their looming battle, though, couldn't overshadow the feel good story of the Paul Azinger was day leading the Memorial once again. On a day when the future of golf was on grand display, Azinger reached into the past for a 67 that gave him the lead in the Memorial for the first time since he sank a dramatic bunker shot to edge Payne Stewart eight years ago. Woods and Garcia were and tied two shots back headed toward a Saturday but it pairing together was Azinger out front in a tournament he began by honoring Stewart, his late friend. Five straight birdies on the back nine gave him a one shot lead over Vijay Singh and two over Woods, Garcia and first round Chris Smith. "I'm not totally dialed in, but obviously it was very good," Azinger said. Azinger had to overcome the emotions of a Wednesday ceremony where he spoke in Stewart's honor just to get ready to play. He played badly in a practice round before the ceremony, but felt renewed on the range afterward. It showed in the 68 he opened the tournament with, and the 67 that came despite a two hour rain delay that stopped some early momentum. er -- "It was after I gave that talk that I was able to finally gear in and focus," Azinger said. "I came back and got, really, some effective practice in. But it wasn't really until after the ceremony that I was able to really get focused in." Azinger will need all the focus he has if he is to hold e off Woods, the defending champion, and Garcia, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour last month. And don't forget Singh, who won here the last time the tournament was shortened to 54 holes in 1997. A short tournament was indeed on the mind of Woods as he finished his marathon round with a 69 in the cold and near darkness. "From what I've been told the weather is not supposed to be good tomorrow and we don't know if it's going to be event or not," a Woods said. "I needed to get myself into position where I didn't have too many shots to make up if it was a event. Woods had yet to tee off when a morning downpour suspended play for two hours and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls. Three players were unable to finish and will have to' return early Saturday to complete their rounds. Woods said he just tried to remain patient during a five and a half hour round in cloudy, windy conditions. "It takes an inordinate amount of patience. It's going to be a long day and you know that," Woods said. "You know your rhythm is not going to be your normal pace. You've just got to somehow stay mentally two-tim- 54-ho- le 54-ho- le , ready to play." Garcia, playing in the group behind Woods, had the same problems, but was energized after a closing birdie put him even with Woods and got him in the same grouping for Saturday. Azinger s round might have been even better, save for an intense but brief storm that suspended play for two hours after flooding the greens of the Muirfield Village Golf Club. Still, it was enough to give him hope for only his second win since he was sidelined by cancer. "I hit my irons accurate," he said. Azinger was 2 under for the day through five holes when the storm came, then went out and bogeved two of his next four holes before recovering with his 31 on ' the back nine. then his began Azinger birdie streak on the 13th before hole with an making four successive birdies from within 12 feet. last-bea- Tournament host Jack third hole. par-- 4 h He" improved from his double bogey the day before but still made bogey after hitting it into the greenside bunker. Woods had a chance to get it backhand more, but a balky putter wouldn't allow him to go on a streak like it m , j A:mw , m Nicklaus was an impressed playing partner. - "When I got to 18 1 looked at the scorecard and I said, 'good gracious, that was five birdies in a row," Nicklaus said. "I didn't even realize it because he had played so well and had the ball right around the hole." Woods, who teed off in cool, windy and wet conditions after a storm that interfered with play for the 17th time in the last 50 rounds at the Memorial, had problems once again with the 'mil i: ? Ox IP Photos by The Associated Press Live the drama: Above, Tiger Woods points right after hitting an errant tee shot on the par-- 10th hole during the second round of the Memorial Tournament on Friday. At right, Paul Azinger, right, is congratulated by Jack Nicklaus. Azinger holds a advantage over Vijay e lead Singh and a over Woods, Sergio Garcia and Chris Smith going into today's third round. -- one-stro- two-strok- Thursday yhen he made two eagles and a pair of birdies in the final eight : holes. He hit an iron 246 yards within six feet of the hole on the par-- 5 fifth, then pulled, his eagle putt left, prompting him to shout an expletive loud enough for the large crowd to hear. He later slammed his driver on the ground while walking to of women's competitions for the USGA, said play would resume 7 a.ml and- the third round would start as Continued from Bl soon as possible, with threeNot that they had much somes going off both sides a time. possibility. The greens figure to be Eathorne, whose tee time soft, taking exceptionally was delayed by already of the challenge Out of some final storms, approaching got in two holes and the domed greens designed scratched out pars when by Donald Ross. Then again, course also ' will play play was stopped for 33 the minutes. She got in two long. Either way, it has proven more holes when the siren to be difficult, as only five sounded and rain pelted remained under par. players Pine Needles. Mi Hyun Kim was at 2 7 When she returns at under through four holes, a.m., she has about a while Se Ri Pak remained 1 for par. The distance under after getting two is tough to measure because holes in. she marked her ball with a off Juli Inkster coin that no doubt has been the tee and hadstruggled a, 72, slamblown away. Rules of Golf her visor against a allow her to replace it as ming as she left the pine close to the spot as possible. trailer. She was atscoring 140, had an easiwith Kristi Albers along 30 She was time. er among (69). players who never teed off. Sorenstam, who is going Then there was Morgan for the second leg of the Pressel, the Grand Slam, bogeyed the from Florida. She made it to second hole and was 1 over the weekend, but only for the tournament. because rain kept her from Such scoring only made finishing her last two holes. Webb's round that much The precocious teen was more impressive. "You don't expect to go par for the round, 14 over for the tournament. out on a U.S. Open course "I have to get up early," and shoot 65, especially not she shrugged, "I want to fin- this one," Webb said. "Havish my experience here. I ing done so really sets me want to finish my round." up well for the weekend." Webb felt she just as eas Kendra Graham, director er flf - :.s lA : . DUSAN VRANICThe Associated Press dream: Andy Roddick wipes his face after falling on the clay during his third-roun-d match against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt at the French Open in Paris. Roddick retired in the ; third set after pulling a muscle. A bad Teary Roddick limps out PARIS (AP) Once again, Andy Roddick limped off center court at Roland Garros, this time in tears because he couldn't finish the match. AmeriThe can's brief but dramatic debut run in the French Open ended after he took a nasty tumble in the third set Friday against Lleyton Hewitt. Roddick tried to continue but played only four more points before retiring because of a strained left thigh. Hewitt led 7 (6), 5 when Roddick called it quits, tossing his racket aside in disappointment. "It took me awhile to regain my composure after the match," Roddick said. "You don't want to go out like that. I wanted to make someone play well to beat me." The young Floridian won the favor of French fans by overcoming cramps and nobbling past Michael thriller Chang in a five-sWednesday. The third-roun- d 6-- 4, 6-- 2-- 2, 40-1- et No. 11 Tim Henman lost to Guillermo Canas. The biggest upset came before beginning prepara- on the women's side, where tions for his debut later this No. 15 Jelena Dokic lost 4 to Hungary's Petra month at Wimbledon, where his huge serve makes him a Mandula, a qualifier ranked 131st. formidable threat. "I couldn't keep a rally did American One advance in the top half of ;oing, which isn't like me," okic said. lhe way she the men's draw: Detroit native Michael Russell, a Elays, it usually suits me. do very much. qualifier ranked 122nd in the world. Russell Everything she won was my mistakes." outlasted Xavier Malisse 4 Advancing were two Beland will No. 12 Kim next face Gustavo Kuerten, gian e Clijsters and No. 14 Justine the Henin, the only seeded champion. "Who's he? What's his players left in their half of name?" Russell joked, before the draw, Roddick's taxing win over admitting: "I'm going to be took a toll that likely Chang nervous." eliminated contributed to his injury. He Kuerten 7 Karim Alami (3), 6 said his legs remained sore No. 4 Juan Carlos Friday, and his left ham(5), Ferrero and No. 7 Yevgeny string began to tighten in Kafelnikov also won, but the second set. 3-- 6, 6-- 4, 6-- 1, 6-- 1-- 6, teen-ager- s, two-tim- top-seed- ed 6-- 3, 6-- Webb's name atop the leaderboard was just as ominous. kJ. Ml y S ay, Jun 2 ilfiy If AT t3 ifc wl 6-- 2. mm (roxDiHa Lit Jpii pricnsssorjAL baseball VAyw.provcangels.com Jr. Til! TtPWiT mmmiimm LAHHY H. IVXX2 FitLD Opening Day June IB, 7 p.m. 7-- against Roddick said he expects to be sidelined only a few days er 3-- 6, 6--4, Hewitt was shaping up as another tense endurance test until Roddick fell chasing down a shot. Tests indicated the injury was just a strain. Figg-Curri- er ily could have posted in the first round instead of a 70. It was all a matter of putts falling, and Webb had to endure a little more frustration early Friday. "Once I got a couple of putts to drop, it made the hole look a bit bigger," she said. The hole hardly looked like a manhole on No. 2 after Webb was fooled by the wind and left her a few yards short of the green. She would have settled for getting the chip within 5 feet of the cup, but instead watched it bend gently to the left and drop for birdie. "When you're playing well, some of those things happen," she said. The first of three rain delays came at the worst time for Webb. After saving par from the bunker on No. 3, she ripped another drive and hit a sand wedge that checked up about 10 inches from the cup. Before she could tap in for birdie, she was forced to sit in a van for 30 minutes. That didn't keep her from making the putt, but she worried about losing her momentum. Dark skies were a sign that it could be a long weekend for several players. ld . match 6-- it the next hole. - ''J' ' SMS'"1 WOMEN t " Prices: Superbox 58.00 Reserved $5.00 Z'jfZzx szzs ffidudz whites szrvizs rhrcuhs'jJ hz r;i: Cssh, Chsck, or Yissf.tasJzrcsrdCisccvcr ecccpted.