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Sunday showdown
Maggert grabs Masters lead, but charging Woods lurks
Posted: Saturday April 12, 2003 11:14 AM
Updated: Sunday April 13, 2003 11:07 AM
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Defending champion Tiger Woods knew exactly where he stood Saturday morning at the Masters. AP |
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- The biggest buzz at Augusta National came
from the players, not the protesters.
The Masters roared to life Saturday behind an unlikely leader --
Jeff Maggert -- and a familiar charge by Tiger Woods, who was one
putt away from going home and wound up in great position to make
history.
Maggert overcame a double bogey on No. 11 with five birdies over
his final six holes for a 6-under 66, giving him a two-stroke lead
over fast-fading Mike Weir.
"This is a position you dream about," said Maggert, who has
never held the 54-hole lead in a major championship.
Woods, fighting for the right to keep playing, made the cut on
the number and then blitzed Augusta National for a bogey-free 66
that left him only four shots behind.
No one has ever won three straight Masters. No one has ever
trailed by 11 shots after 36 holes and gone on to win at Augusta
National.
None of this seemed plausible when Woods stood behind a small
pine tree in the ninth fairway on his final hole of the second
round. He managed to squeeze a shot under the shoulder-high
branches and scratch out a par just to make the cut.
That was only the appetizer on a spectacular day of sunshine and
golf, which proved to be far more appealing than a tepid protest
against Augusta National's all-male membership that took place a
half-mile down the road.
Sunday was shaping up to be even better.
Maggert has won only once in the previous nine times he has led
going into the final round, and there were plenty of stars lurking
behind.
Weir, who had a six-stroke lead at one point, staggered home
with a 39 on the back for a 3-over 75 and was at 213.
Vijay Singh, who won the Masters three years ago, and former PGA
champion David Toms each had 70 and were another stroke back.
Woods had some familiar company at 1-under 215 -- Phil Mickelson,
who made crucial par putts on the final three holes, the last from
20 feet that suspended on the back lip of the cup before falling.
That gave Lefty a 72 and another chance to win his first major.
Cheers crisscrossed Augusta National, but they were never far
from Woods.
He started the third round at 5 over par with 42 players in
front of him. When he played the last of his 26 holes Saturday, he
was in a tie for fifth.
Woods proved to be a prophet.
"If I can be even par or under par, I'll be right where I need
to be," he said after walking off the ninth green, relieved to
have made his 102nd consecutive cut.
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| Close Calls for Tiger |
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Tiger Woods has missed the cut just once as a pro, at the 1997 Bell Canadian Open. Since then, he has made the cut 102 straight times, the second-longest streak in PGA Tour history. Here's a look at the nine times he has come close to missing the cut.
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| 1999 Buick Invitational: Woods had double bogeys on Nos. 10 and 14 and made the cut by two strokes. He closed with 62-65 on the weekend to win by two shots. |
| 2000 Buick Invitational: Woods was at even par at Torrey Pines, two below the cut line, until he made five birdies and one great par save on the back nine for a 68. He was tied for the lead Sunday and wound up four strokes back, tied for second. |
| 2000 Canadian Open: Woods was only one shot better than the cut with four holes to play when he went birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle. That gave him a 65, and he went on to win by one stroke over Grant Waite. |
| 2001 U.S. Open: Woods had a 74 and a 71, and at one point he was 11 strokes behind Retief Goosen. The U.S. Open cut is the top 60 and everyone within 10 shots of the lead. He finished eight back to make the cut, then had two 69s to tie for 12th. |
| 2001 Buick Classic: Woods played 35 holes Friday because of a rain delay. He opened with a 75 but pulled it together in the afternoon. He drove the par-4 10th green and made birdie, holed a bunker shot for another birdie and secured his weekend status with a birdie on his 16th hole. He had a 66 in the second round, had 68-71 on the weekend and tied for 16th. |
| 2001 PGA Championship: Woods was two below the projected cut when he holed a 40-foot birdie putt from off the 15th green, then a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 16. He wound up making the cut by one, had 69-70 on the weekend and tied for 29th. |
| 2002 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am: Woods was one stroke better than the cut and facing a 15-foot par putt on No. 12. He made his par, added an insurance birdie on No. 16 to make it by two shots. He had 71-68 on the weekend to tie for 12th. |
| 2002 Buick Invitational: Coming off double bogey on No. 17, Woods needed a birdie on the final hole to make the cut. He holed a 6-footer for birdie to make it on the number, then closed with rounds of 69-65 to tie for fifth. |
| 2003 Masters: Woods was on the cut line at 5 over par when he birdied his 16th hole, No. 7, and appeared to be safe with a 25-foot birdie chance on the next hole. Instead, he three-putted for bogey, then hit his drive behind a pine tree. He hit a waist-high shot into the bunker, blasted out to 3 feet and powered the putt into the right side for par. He finished at 5 over and made the cut on the number. |
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He is right there, four strokes and four players separating him
from slipping on the green jacket for the third straight year.
It was quite a show -- unlike the demonstrations down Washington
Road.
Martha Burk had been pointing to Saturday of the Masters for her
National Council of Women's Organizations' protest.
About 40 people joined the cause, a group that was outnumbered
by police and media.
"You've got to make a choice -- is it discrimination or is it
dollars," Burk said, threatening to boycott companies whose
executives belong to the club. "Today we are protesters with
placards. Tomorrow, women will protest with their pocketbooks."
People will probably pay top dollar for a Masters ticket Sunday.
While Woods commanded most of the attention, he was among 16
players within six shots of the lead going into the final round.
Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, a forgotten man
in golf this year, quietly crept into contention with a 71 and also
was at 1-under 215.
Len Mattiace (69), Jim Furyk (71) and Jonathan Byrd (71), who
grew up about 30 miles away in South Carolina and is playing his
first Masters, were at 216.
As usual, Amen Corner was up to its old tricks.
Woods finally found some momentum at No. 11 by holing a 50-foot
birdie putt that made a left turn as it got to the hole and
dropped. On the par-5 13th, his second shot somehow stayed out of
the water and he chipped close for birdie.
Others weren't so fortunate.
Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie was four strokes out of
the lead until Amen Corner left him cursing -- a double bogey on No.
12, a triple bogey on the 13th.
U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes, the first amateur in 42
years to play in the final two groups on the weekend at the
Masters, was also at 2 under and zeroing in on the lead when he
took double bogey on the 12th.
Barnes shot 40 on the back for a 75 and was at 2-over 218.
Weir paid a steep price. His approach into the 11th plugged into
the side of the hill inside the hazard line, and he played a
delicate shot to limit the damage to a bogey. Two holes later, he
went for the 13th green and landed in Rae's Creek to make another
bogey.
The tenacious Canadian is far from out of it. He has trailed
going into the final round in all five of his PGA Tour victories,
two of them earlier this year.
Maggert was a victim, too, when he took double bogey on No. 11.
With quiet confidence, he struck back quietly.
His birdie blitz might have been a real show-stopped if Maggert
had not three-putted for par on the 15th. Still, he hit his tee
shot to 5 feet on the par-3 16th, made the first birdie of the
round on No. 17 from 15 feet and closed out his 66 from 20 feet on
the 18th.
The tone was set early, when 75 players returned to complete the
second round under blazing blue skies.
For a while, it appeared as though history might be revisited.
A three-putt bogey from 25 feet on No. 8 put Woods on the verge
of missing the cut, just as Jack Nicklaus did in 1967 when he was
trying to win his third straight Masters.
Woods was 5 over -- right on the cut line -- when he sprayed his
drive behind a pine tree that blocked his path to the green. He hit
a waist-high shot that ran up the slope and dropped into a bunker,
then calmly blasted out to 3 feet above the hole.
If he missed, his chances were over.
"That putt was either going in or going off the green," Woods
said.
He powered it in the right side for perhaps the most important
par he has ever made at the Masters. Woods was still 11 strokes
behind Weir, but still in the game.
Weir finished with a 68 and had a four-stroke lead after 36
holes, the first time a Canadian has been in the lead at the
Masters since Stan Leonard in 1959.
The sun was out, big names lit up the scoreboard, and the
Masters finally felt like its old self after a week of rain. Though
the protest site was a short walk down the road from Magnolia Lane,
it seemed so far away.
"Do you think any of these people care what's going on out
there?" Nicklaus said. "That's the bottom line. None of these
people really care what's going on outside the gates of this club.
Come on. It's a golf tournament."
And by the look of it Saturday, not just any tournament.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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