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 'Ooh, Tiger' Time running out for Woods after day of missed opportunities
Posted: Saturday June 20, 1998 06:09 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Tiger Woods glared at the ball clutched in his fist as he walked off the fourth green Saturday at The Olympic Club, seemingly as upset with it as he was with himself. Two straight bogeys had derailed a day that began with such promise, and any thoughts he had of catching up with the leaders in the U.S. Open were fading fast. "Ooh Tiger," Woods muttered in disgust, still glaring at the ball. The crowds lining the fairways five and six deep still yelled encouragement at Woods, as if he was contending for the lead. Children called his name as he walked by after hitting a 3-wood off the fifth tee. Time, though, was already running out for Woods, who started the day nine shots behind Payne Stewart and was in desperate need of a string of birdies to get in contention for his first major win since the 1997 Masters. Instead of birdies, he began making pars -- 14 straight to end the round. It was good enough for his best round of the tournament, a 1-over 71, but not good enough to make the kind of move on the lead Woods needed on moving day in the Open. "It's just one of those weeks," Woods said. "You can't have everything click at the right time. I just haven't been able to put the pieces together at the right time." Woods, who hasn't contended in a major since winning the Masters, spent the hour before he teed off Saturday morning on the putting green with his instructor, Butch Harmon, trying to find the stroke that eluded him in the first two rounds. Woods four-putted greens on each of the first two days, and his 65 putts in two rounds ranked 126th in the 154-man tournament. This time, though, it wasn't the flat stick that gave Woods the most trouble. He scattered shots off the tee and, with his swing off, aimed for the middle of greens instead of for pins tucked precariously close to the thick rough surrounding Olympic's tiny greens. "Basically I salvaged a round," Woods said. "This is a round that could have been in the high 70s easily. I wasn't hitting the ball well so I was hitting toward the center of greens." Woods started the day like he might make a move. With driver in his hand on the par-5 first hole, he hit a tremendous drive that landed near playing partner Lee Westwood's ball and bounced down the hill. The ball traveled 385 yards, leaving Woods with a pitching wedge that he hit 15 feet from the hole. But Woods missed the putt, then three-putted the par-3 third for bogey and made another bogey on the fourth hole from the rough. By then, he was talking to himself and the pendulum had swung from trying to make birdies to mere damage control. "It was a struggle out there because I wasn't hitting the ball well," Woods said. "But I scrambled and got a lot of pars that could have been bogeys." Two of those pars came on the final two holes when Woods made fine up-and-downs to keep his par streak going. On 17, he hooked a 3-wood into the deep rough, advanced it with a wedge and hit a pitch shot to 15 feet from the hole, where he made the putt. After a perfect iron shot on 18, he found himself in a sand-filled divot and chunked the ball short of the green in the deep grass. Woods hit a flop shot about 15 feet past the hole, leaving him with an incredibly fast putt coming back down the slope. He barely touched the putt, then raised his hands in triumph as it trickled down into the hole. Woods credited his finish to the experience he has gained playing in majors, in which he has had only two rounds under 70 since Augusta a year ago. "I've played so much better this year mentally than at any major, including my win at the Masters," he said. "I've learned my lessons and applied them this week. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be here today." And, ever the optimist, he still held out a bit of hope for Sunday. "If you go out there and shoot a good round and post early, you never know," Woods said.
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