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After turning in 30 on the front side, equaling his low for nine holes this season, Woods said he just made too many mistakes on the back nine.
"I was right there. I had plenty of easy holes to go, but I didn't capitalize on that at all," he said. "I made a couple of bad decisions, bad swings on top of that.
"On a golf course that's playing this benign, you just can't afford to do that. It can be had out there -- I had it after eight holes, just didn't keep it going."
The 37-year-old Van Pelt didn't seem to have that trouble until the very end, when he watched his chance for a 59 vanish in the bunker.
"From there, I pretty much had nothing," he said, claiming that it wasn't nerves that got to him. "Surprisingly, I wasn't really nervous at all. I've never had that good a chance to shoot a 59 before and, to be honest, I'll probably look back on it and think about the third hole.
"I had a 5-iron from the middle of the fairway and didn't make birdie. I'll look back at 15, I'm 30 yards from the green with an easy pitch and don't make it. Those are the holes that cost me more than 18."
Japan's Ryo Ishikawa has the lowest round on a major tour, shooting a 12-under 58 to win the 2010 Crowns in the Japan Tour.
Only five players have shot 59 in official PGA Tour events -- the latest being Australian Stuart Appleby at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic. Tommy Gainey missed a putt for a 59 at the McGladrey Classic and finished with a 60 in the last round to win the title last weekend, when Van Pelt was in Australia winning the Perth International.
Getting a 59 here wouldn't have counted on Van Pelt's official statistics anyway because the CIMB Classic, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, doesn't become a full-fledged PGA Tour event until next year.
It wouldn't have counted on the Asian Tour, either, because preferred lies were allowed for the second consecutive round, where players could pick up, clean and place their balls due to the soggy conditions caused by heavy overnight rain.
Van Pelt has four career victories, including one on the PGA Tour. He has led entering the final round four previous times on the PGA Tour, but has never converted those leads into a victory.
Johnson Wagner matched Van Pelt on the front nine when he went out in a career-best 29. He had seven birdies in the first 11 holes but then had bogeys at the 12th, 16th and 18th holes to finish with a 67.
[Associated
Press;
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