Fan throws hot dog at Tiger Woods

SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Tiger Woods got the competition he wanted and almost got a gift he didn't want: a hot dog hurled at him by a fan at the seventh green.

It was part of a wild Sunday at the Frys.com Open in which Woods recorded a third straight 68 and, no less significantly, Briny Baird recorded his 348th tournament without a victory.

Baird, 39, and Bryce Molder, 32, who also had been winless on Tour, tied with 72-hole totals of 17-under-par 267, and as darkness hovered, Molder won on the sixth playoff hole with a birdie.

Bud Cauley, a pro only four months, was third at 269, and Ernie Els, with his best finish of the year, tied Shane Bertsch for fourth at 270. Woods, playing for the first time in two months, was 10 shots back at 277 and tied for 30th.

This was the second year the Frys was played at CordeValle, a resort course in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains about 80 miles south of San Francisco.

Because of a knee problem and Achilles tendon soreness, Woods had played only six rounds since the Masters in April until the Frys and was not displeased with his game.

"I got better every day," said Woods, who had six birdies and three bogeys. "I just need to stay the course. It's getting there. It's a process. I don't know what the end is."

The end for a 31-year-old fan was in handcuffs. At the seventh green, Woods' 16th hole after he began at the 10th tee, the spectator stepped through the gallery ropes and tossed the hot dog. The bun barely reached the green. The hot dog plopped onto the putting surface.

"Some guy just came running on the green, and he had a hot dog, and evidently . . . I don't know how he tried to throw it, but I was kind of focusing on my putt when he started yelling," said Woods, who didn't seem bothered by it. "Next thing I know, he laid on the ground and looked like he wanted to be arrested because he . . . put his hands behind his back and turned his head."

The man was arrested.

"I was still bent over my putt,'' Woods said. "He was pretty far from me.''

He doesn't think he's far from regaining his touch. "I haven't played much,'' said Woods, 35. "I could have just got it really rolling. But I didn't . . . The feel comes from competitive flow, understanding the situations and game times.''

Woods shot consecutive 69s in his first event of the year, the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego in January, and did not duplicate that until the Frys.