Garcia is pegged back at start

Sergio Garcia had his overnight two-stroke lead trimmed to one shot in the early stages of the Buick Classic final round here yesterday.

The Spaniard started the day two shots ahead of Scott Hoch, who made the first move with birdies on the par four fourth and the par five fifth. That tied the American with Garcia, who could only muster a birdie and a bogey in the first six holes. Garcia collected a birdie on the par four seventh to put him one ahead of Hoch with 11 holes remaining.

Vijay Singh was three shots behind Garcia after he recorded his third eagle of the week on the par-five ninth hole. Billy Andrade, Brad Faxon, Russ Cochran, Stewart Cink and the 1998 champion, J P Hayes, were four back.

Tiger Woods, who was eight shots off the pace going in to the fourth round, started out bogey-bogey and is even par for yesterday's round at four under.

Weather delays have plagued this year's event, forcing officials to schedule the final round for yesterday. Eight of the top 10 who figured on the leaderboard at the start of play yesterday have won at least once on the PGA Tour. Only Jay Williamson and Australia's Craig Parry are looking for a first title.

"It doesn't look like Tiger is playing as well as he was," Garcia said after a five-under 66 gave him a three-round total of 12-under 201. Garcia did not rule Woods out, but did not seem unduly concerned about the prospect of the world No 1 making a late charge. "I mean, he can still shoot a good round and finish well, but it's not in my mind right now," Garcia said.

Woods admitted he would have to shoot a phenomenal score and hope those above him will lose ground to give him any chance of winning. "When you're this far behind, you're going to need a little bit of help," he said.

Woods' biggest comeback of his PGA career after three rounds was at Pebble Beach last year, when he was five behind.

Hoch, who played with Garcia on Sunday, said it was a mistake to think of Garcia as playing in the same swashbuckling, grip-it-and-rip-it style as his fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros. "He hits it much better than Seve did," Hoch said. "He didn't miss many shots. He is the exact opposite of Seve."

Garcia is seeking his second PGA victory, following a win at Colonial five weeks ago. One of his near misses came last year at the Buick Classic, when he had a three-stroke lead, but squandered it on the last nine.