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A19
SPORTS Saturday 5 May 2018

Malnati leads Wells Fargo as Woods survives the cut

By DOUG FERGUSON McIlroy, the only two-time
AP Golf Writer winner at the Wells Fargo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Championship, celebrated
Peter Malnati and Tiger his 29th birthday on Friday
Woods both had reason by matching his worst score
to celebrate on the ninth at Quail Hollow with a 76,
green at Quail Hollow at including three bogeys
the end of their rounds. over the last five holes.
Malnati was coming off He was in the same spot
two straight birdies to take as Woods, nine shots out of
the lead Friday in the Wells the lead.
Fargo Championship when "Struggled with my game,
he put his 5-iron in a deep struggled to get my ball in
bunker to the right, with the the fairway, made some
green running away from pretty bad mistakes, didn't
him. He was trying to blast birdie any of the par 5s,"
out to 15 feet, but he got McIlroy said. "It just was one
the club too much under of those days where I just
the ball and feared for the couldn't get anything go-
worst until it cleared the lip ing."
by inches. Mickelson wasn't that wild
Malnati emphatically — three bogeys, two bird-
wiped his hand across his ies, another 72, and he
brow, made the 6-foot par made the cut with one shot
putt for a 3-under 68 and to spare.
had a one-shot lead over Malnati rarely is without a
Jason Day and Aaron Wise. smile, even though this is
"Pretty scary when I hit it," the last year of his exemp- Peter Malnati hits from a sand trap on the fourth hole during the second round of the Wells Fargo
he said. "I got away with it, tion from winning an oppo- Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, May 4, 2018.
looked like a genius." site-field event in Mississippi Associated Press
Hours earlier, Woods stood in the fall of 2015. He had
over an 18-foot putt on No. reason to celebrate the last three holes Friday. of Malnati and Wise — Day pretty quickly," Day said.
9, his final hole of another par, if for no other reason Malnati got a hybrid high (67) also was one shot be- "And it was good to be
ordinary round that up un- than it was the first time he enough in the air to land hind, with Paul Casey (68) able to come to a golf
til then featured no birdies. has led after any round ex- softly on the firm green at and former Masters cham- course like this where I
He finally made one, and cept the final round when the par-5 seventh hole, pion Charl Schwartzel (67) know it's very difficult. I think
stretched out both hands he won the Sanderson setting up a 25-foot eagle another shot back. everyone else is obviously
in mock celebration when Farms Championship. attempt that he narrowly Day won at Torrey Pines in a having a tough time with it,
it dropped. He is not long or regarded made. Facing a delicate playoff earlier this year, the too. It's a major champion-
"I'm on a hot streak right as a pure striker of the golf pitch on the next hole from first step on the road back ship golf course, so you've
now. I made the last putt," ball, which is not a great about 50 yards, to a slightly for the former No. 1 player in got to come out and be
he said. combination at this level. elevated green with the pin the world. He wasn't overly patient with yourself and
Never mind that it was the Making it worse was that on a slope, he got that to spectacular because Quail take your chances when
only putt he made longer Malnati was caught up 10 feet and holed the putt. Hollow hasn't allowed a you get them."q
than 5 feet. Or that he was in results, which have not And then came his par save score better than 65 so far.
nine shots out of the lead in been good, and he want- from the bunker, which felt He made birdie on the two
a tie for 48th, his worst posi- ed to get back to trying like a birdie. scoring holes on the front
tion through 36 holes in his only to be at his very best Wise, the former NCAA nine. He holed a bunker
last five tournaments. At over every shot. champion from Oregon, shot for eagle on the par-5
least he was still playing on "I always have fun. I always shot 32 on the back nine 10th. What really pleased
the weekend at Quail Hol- smile. I love my job, and with three birdies over the him was a 7-iron from 195
low, where he had missed I even love my job when I last five holes. He made yards to pin-high on the
the cut his previous two suck at it," he said. "But hav- the turn and was looking to par-3 17th, and the birdie
trips. That putt made cer- ing fun and being relaxed stay in the lead until a slop- putt he made from just in-
tain of it, though Woods aren't the same thing. py bogey on the par-5 sev- side 30 feet.
made it the cut with one There's a lot of anxiety, enth, the second-easiest at "I was saying yesterday
shot to spare. there's a lot of really strong Quail Hollow. the iron play just needs
Rory McIlroy and Phil Mick- desire, there's a lot of pres- The more daunting names to tighten up. I think once
elson also had to sweat it sure that I put on myself." on the leaderboard were that starts to happen, then
out. He was at his best over the right behind the final group things are going to switch