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Matchless

The Accenture Match Play will be remembered as the tournament where Tiger's streak died and a bright new star, Henrik Stenson, was born

Posted: Tuesday February 27, 2007 9:49AM; Updated: Tuesday February 27, 2007 9:49AM
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Woods, who came back from 4 down against O'Hern, blamed a ball mark for a fatal miss.
Woods, who came back from 4 down against O'Hern, blamed a ball mark for a fatal miss.
Robert Beck/Si
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It wasn't the outfit. Tiger Woods was wearing a black shirt and hat, with charcoal-gray slacks. It must've been his sinewy arms and buff, V-shaped upper body, and the faster-than-a-speeding-bullet, 341-yard drive he had just launched at the 4th hole of the Gallery at Dove Mountain. Whatever, as Woods strode down the fairway a starstruck fan blurted out, "Wow! He looks like Superman!"

Woods was making his first visit to Tucson, which explains the Tigermania, but who's to argue? With 55 PGA Tour wins and 12 major championships, and riding a Tour winning streak of seven, Tiger did appear to be the Man of Steel. But golf is not a movie, and while the Accenture Match Play Championship was filled with upsets, heroics, blunders and drama, plus a terrific Sunday final in which Henrik Stenson of Sweden defeated Geoff Ogilvy of Australia 2 and 1, the match of the week was played two days earlier on a chilly, windy Friday. That's when Superman caught a cold.

Baseball's Joe DiMaggio had Ken Keltner, Ken Jennings of Jeopardy had Nancy Zerg, and now it can be said that Tiger Woods has Nick O'Hern, a.k.a. Buzz Killjoy. In 2005 O'Hern, a gangly, lefthanded Australian who speaks softly and carries a big stick -- the long-shafted putter he wields better than anyone in the game -- had knocked Woods out of the Match Play in the second round. In the first two rounds last week Woods had cruised past J.J. Henry and Tim Clark, and the chances of Tiger allowing a Punch and Judy hitter like O'Hern to defeat him again were less than those of Barry Bonds winning a popularity contest. No one had ever beaten Tiger twice in match play. No one, that is, until O'Hern, who did it with a scrambling par on the second hole of a playoff.

So how does it feel to beat Tiger twice? "It's something to tell the grandkids, I guess," said O'Hern, who practically yawned while giving the answer.

And what about ending Tiger's bid to match Byron Nelson's record of 11 straight wins? "Yeah, that's right," O'Hern said, feigning surprise. "Tiger was going for eight in a row, wasn't he?" O'Hern paused. "I don't pay too much attention, to be honest." Thanks, Buzz.

With that, the Streak was over. It was a shocker because Woods seemed destined to at least match Nelson's record. If he had gotten through the Match Play, victory number 9 could've come at Bay Hill, where he has won four times; number 10 could've come at Doral, where he has won the last two years; and historic number 11 could've come at the Masters, which he has won four times in 12 starts. Easy? No. Realistic? Absolutely.

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