Tiger Rolls on at Firestone


Tiger Woods followed up his course record-tying 9-under 61 with a 68 Saturday to maintain his seven-shot lead through 54 holes of the $8.75 million WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The PGA Tour event is taking place at the famed Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, a place where Woods has won seven times.

Though nowhere near as red-hot as he was Friday in the second round, Woods still carded five birdies and three bogeys Saturday to reach 15-under 195, seven strokes ahead of Sweden's Henrik Stenson and eight in front of Jason Dufner, who both shot 67s.

Woods again got off to a fine start. On Friday he was 4-under after the first three holes, while on Saturday he birdied the first two holes right out of the gate before settling down with six straight pars. The highlight of his round came on the 13th hole when he chipped in from 39 feet.

Tied for fourth at 204 are Englishmen Luke Donald (68) and Chris Wood (70), and American Bill Haas (69). Sharing seventh at 205 are 49-year-old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who fired the low round of the day, a 5-under 65, and defending champion Keegan Bradley (71).

Sharing ninth 12 shots behind Woods at 207 are two Masters' champions, Adam Scott and Zach Johnson. Scott, who became the first Australian to win a green jacket with his victory at Augusta National in April, shot a 66, while Johnson, who took the Masters in 2007, carded a 68.

Scott was pleased with his outing, one in which he posted five birdies before closing with a bogey on the par-4 final hole at Firestone. "It'll be nice to play another solid round tomorrow, kind of nearly bogey-free today, just dropped that one on the last, and that's good golf around here, and also good to get those rounds in before a major next week where dropped shots are so costly," he told PGATour.com.

Other scores included a 67 by newly crowned British Open champion Phil Mickelson, and a 69 by No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy, who's tied - along with nine others - with Mickelson at even-par 210. That group also includes 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, who also shot 69.

For all the scores, visit http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/bridgestone-invitational/leaderboard.html.