SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods got off to another sloppy start in the 108th U.S. Open Saturday, playing his first four holes in 3 over par, including another opening-hole double bogey. But it hardly seemed to matter in a third round that saw so many players who began the day in serious contention lose all hope for a championship now very much within Woods's reach.
By the end of a cool, overcast afternoon hard by the Pacific Ocean, the No. 1 player in the world had made a magnificent, 70-foot eagle putt at the 539-yard 13th hole, holed a 50-foot flop shot at the 441-yard 17th for birdie, and sunk a 30-foot eagle putt at the 530-yard 18th hole to take over this tournament with a stunning round of 70 and a three-day total of 3-under-par 210 at Torrey Pines South.
Woods has won six events on the PGA Tour at this venue, including the last four. He will enter Sunday's final round a shot ahead of steady Englishman Lee Westwood, who shot a 70 for a 2-under total of 211. Playing in his first tournament eight weeks after knee surgery, Woods will be attempting to win the 14th major title of his career, and precedent is clearly on his side. In each of his 13 majors, he was either tied for the lead or held it outright after 54 holes.
Woods, who will play in the final group for the sixth time in the last eight major events, put two final exclamation points on his memorable round.
The first came at the 441-yard 17th. In deep greenside grass, he lofted a third shot from about 50 feet of the hole and watched as it took one bounce and jumped into the cup for a thoroughly improbably birdie 3. He surely surprised himself, and thousands all around, and he began giggling at the wonder of it all, especially after a badly off line drive in the rough, his fifth consecutive missed fairway.
At 18, he finally hit the fairway, sent his second shot soaring to the green, then watched his eagle putt trickle inexorably into the cup for a birdie-eagle finish that had thousands standing and cheering as if the hometown Chargers had just won their first Super Bowl.
Westwood, 35, is a veteran Ryder Cup player who competes mostly on the European Tour. He tied for 11th this year at the Masters and has two career top-10 finishes in the Open. He pushed into the lead for the first time all week when veteran Rocco Mediate, the leader for most of the day, made double bogey out of the rough at the 478-yard 15th hole. Minutes later, Westwood tapped in for par at the 530-yard 18th hole and briefly held the lead until Woods's final-hole heroics.
Trying to become the oldest Open winner in history, Mediate, 45, keeps hitting tee shots in the fairway and greens in regulation with a slightly inelegant, metronomic swing. He's won five times on the PGA Tour but has never prevailed in a major, finishing fourth in the Open in 2001 and tied for sixth in 2005.
Where to begin on the demolition derby front? How about Phil Mickelson making a quadruple-bogey 9 at the 539-yard 13th hole from a perfect lie in the fairway, with three consecutive wedges that went up to the elevated green, only to spin back down the hill? A few hours later, Ernie Els (74) had two shots at the same hole that mimicked Mickelson's comical script, but at least Els was able to make a 15-footer to save bogey.
“I've had a nine on 13 before,” Mickelson said. “I was eight years old.”
What about 36-hole leader Stuart Appleby making a four-putt double bogey at the 453-yard No. 5 and playing his first six holes in 5 over, just as Sweden's Robert Karlsson did after starting the day a shot off the lead. Then Appleby, notorious for his weekend fades, three-putted from three feet at No. 9 to turn certain birdie into an ugly bogey.
Woods began badly on the 448-yard first hole for the third straight day, with a drive into the right rough, a second shot short of the green into the left rough, and a third shot to the fringe, 40 feet from the flag. He slightly chunked his chip, leaving it 12 feet from the hole, and two putts later had a double-bogey 6 that pushed him back to even par for the tournament. He had also doubled the same hole in the first round Thursday.
He lost another stroke at the 488-yard No. 4 when a wayward drive landed in deep rough, and his second shot landed in a greenside bunker. From there, he blasted out to 12 feet, but missed the putt to go to 1 over for the week, trailing Mediate in the group right behind by four shots at that point.
But Woods got back to even par when he made an 18-foot birdie putt at the 461-yard No. 7, and played his final 14 holes in 4 under.
A number of players high on the leader board through 36 holes began heading in the wrong direction right from the start. Els and Geoff Ogilvy (72-214), both at even par at the start of play, began with bogeys out of the bunker on the first hole, and Ogilvy, the 2006 Open champion at Winged Foot, had three bogeys on his first six holes.
Karlsson, paired with Woods, bogeyed the first as well, then got a rotten break when his tee shot at the 189-yard No. 3 took a big bounce on the green and rolled over the side down into the gorge hazard below the putting surface. He had to take a drop, and his third shot landed 10 feet from the hole, followed by two putts for a double bogey. He doubled again at the sixth, playing his first six holes in 5 over and tumbling off the board.
Appleby, the 36-hole leader, was doing much of the same. He played his first six holes in four over, including an ugly double bogey at the 453-yard No. 5 when he four putted from eighteen feet. He missed a three-footer for par, then a 2 1/2-footer for bogey before finally tapping in and walking off the green shaking his head.
On TV
€ U.S. Open, final round,
3 p.m., NBC
Woods has won six events on the PGA Tour at this venue, including the last four. He will enter Sunday's final round a shot ahead of steady Englishman Lee Westwood, who shot a 70 for a 2-under total of 211. Playing in his first tournament eight weeks after knee surgery, Woods will be attempting to win the 14th major title of his career, and precedent is clearly on his side. In each of his 13 majors, he was either tied for the lead or held it outright after 54 holes.
Woods, who will play in the final group for the sixth time in the last eight major events, put two final exclamation points on his memorable round.
The first came at the 441-yard 17th. In deep greenside grass, he lofted a third shot from about 50 feet of the hole and watched as it took one bounce and jumped into the cup for a thoroughly improbably birdie 3. He surely surprised himself, and thousands all around, and he began giggling at the wonder of it all, especially after a badly off line drive in the rough, his fifth consecutive missed fairway.
At 18, he finally hit the fairway, sent his second shot soaring to the green, then watched his eagle putt trickle inexorably into the cup for a birdie-eagle finish that had thousands standing and cheering as if the hometown Chargers had just won their first Super Bowl.
Westwood, 35, is a veteran Ryder Cup player who competes mostly on the European Tour. He tied for 11th this year at the Masters and has two career top-10 finishes in the Open. He pushed into the lead for the first time all week when veteran Rocco Mediate, the leader for most of the day, made double bogey out of the rough at the 478-yard 15th hole. Minutes later, Westwood tapped in for par at the 530-yard 18th hole and briefly held the lead until Woods's final-hole heroics.
Trying to become the oldest Open winner in history, Mediate, 45, keeps hitting tee shots in the fairway and greens in regulation with a slightly inelegant, metronomic swing. He's won five times on the PGA Tour but has never prevailed in a major, finishing fourth in the Open in 2001 and tied for sixth in 2005.
Where to begin on the demolition derby front? How about Phil Mickelson making a quadruple-bogey 9 at the 539-yard 13th hole from a perfect lie in the fairway, with three consecutive wedges that went up to the elevated green, only to spin back down the hill? A few hours later, Ernie Els (74) had two shots at the same hole that mimicked Mickelson's comical script, but at least Els was able to make a 15-footer to save bogey.
“I've had a nine on 13 before,” Mickelson said. “I was eight years old.”
What about 36-hole leader Stuart Appleby making a four-putt double bogey at the 453-yard No. 5 and playing his first six holes in 5 over, just as Sweden's Robert Karlsson did after starting the day a shot off the lead. Then Appleby, notorious for his weekend fades, three-putted from three feet at No. 9 to turn certain birdie into an ugly bogey.
Woods began badly on the 448-yard first hole for the third straight day, with a drive into the right rough, a second shot short of the green into the left rough, and a third shot to the fringe, 40 feet from the flag. He slightly chunked his chip, leaving it 12 feet from the hole, and two putts later had a double-bogey 6 that pushed him back to even par for the tournament. He had also doubled the same hole in the first round Thursday.
He lost another stroke at the 488-yard No. 4 when a wayward drive landed in deep rough, and his second shot landed in a greenside bunker. From there, he blasted out to 12 feet, but missed the putt to go to 1 over for the week, trailing Mediate in the group right behind by four shots at that point.
But Woods got back to even par when he made an 18-foot birdie putt at the 461-yard No. 7, and played his final 14 holes in 4 under.
A number of players high on the leader board through 36 holes began heading in the wrong direction right from the start. Els and Geoff Ogilvy (72-214), both at even par at the start of play, began with bogeys out of the bunker on the first hole, and Ogilvy, the 2006 Open champion at Winged Foot, had three bogeys on his first six holes.
Karlsson, paired with Woods, bogeyed the first as well, then got a rotten break when his tee shot at the 189-yard No. 3 took a big bounce on the green and rolled over the side down into the gorge hazard below the putting surface. He had to take a drop, and his third shot landed 10 feet from the hole, followed by two putts for a double bogey. He doubled again at the sixth, playing his first six holes in 5 over and tumbling off the board.
Appleby, the 36-hole leader, was doing much of the same. He played his first six holes in four over, including an ugly double bogey at the 453-yard No. 5 when he four putted from eighteen feet. He missed a three-footer for par, then a 2 1/2-footer for bogey before finally tapping in and walking off the green shaking his head.
On TV
€ U.S. Open, final round,
3 p.m., NBC
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