American journeyman Briny Baird covered his final seven holes in four under par to break two strokes clear of a tightly bunched leaderboard in Saturday's third round of the Frys.com Open. Bidding for his first PGA Tour title in his 348th start on the US circuit, the 39-year-old fired a superb seven-under 64 on a glorious afternoon of sunshine in the Santa Clara valley. Baird eagled the driveable par-four 17th, rolling in a 15-foot putt, before shrugging off a bogey at the last, where his tee shot ended up in a hazard, to post a 13-under total of 200. That left him two ahead of three-times major winner Ernie Els, who carded a 67, and British world No. 20 Paul Casey, who returned a 68 at CordeValle Golf Club. Tiger Woods, who teed off in the first group from the 10th, briefly closed to within three strokes of the lead before losing momentum on the way to a 68, in a tie for 38th a distant nine strokes off the pace. “It's getting better,” Woods, who is playing his first PGA Tour event in seven weeks, told reporters after mixing five birdies with two bogeys. “I'm improving day by day. Obviously tomorrow I need to improve a lot, make the putts and post a really low one.” Els briefly forged two strokes clear at 11-under after sinking a five-footer to eagle the par-five ninth but he immediately slipped back with a three-putt bogey at the 10th. Five players held a share of the lead at 10-under late on the back nine — Els, Baird, Bryce Molder, Charlie Wi and Adam Hadwin — before Baird took control with birdies at 14 and 15. Slattery holds on for victory In Madrid, Lee Slattery of England nervously sealed a one-shot win in the Madrid Masters Sunday for his first ever title after seven years on the European Tour. No. 328-ranked Slattery carded a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish on 15 under for the tournament and hold off the challenge from Italian Lorenzo Gagli, despite wobbling with a double-bogey 7 on the last hole. The nearly calamitous finish was perhaps understandable — the €166,660 ($222,908) top prize more than doubles the 33-year-old's earnings on the European Tour this year. Defending champion and No. 1-ranked Luke Donald failed to mount a serious challenge, dropping three shots in the last five holes — including a double-bogey at No.16 — to finish 8 under for the tournament.
