Friday, September 7, 2001
Tiger erases bad memories of
Montreal
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
MONTREAL (AP) — Tiger Woods was at
Royal Montreal Golf Club, and he was in trouble.
Unlike four years ago, when he missed his
only cut on the PGA Tour at the Canadian Open, this didn't last
long.
Standing beneath a cluster of trees on the
11th fairway, he studied his options — pitch back to the
fairway, play a punch fade around the timber or squeeze a 3-iron
through a gap in the trees only 4 feet wide.
He chose the latter and pulled it off, and
wound up saving par.
Whatever sour memories he took from Royal
Montreal in 1997 were replaced Thursday by a nearly flawless round
of 5-under 65. It not only tied the course record, but also left
Woods tied for the lead with Jim McGovern, Matt Gogel and rookie
Michael Muehr.
“It wasn't on my mind what happened
in '97 because I knew if I started thinking that way, then I don't
think I could put the attention I needed on each and every shot,”
Woods said. “And the way this golf course is playing, you
need to be focused on what you're doing.”
John Daly, fresh off his victory in the
BMW International Open in Germany to end a six-year drought, had
a bogey-free 66 and was joined by Mark O'Meara and Joey Sindelar,
with Match Play champion Steve Stricker among those at 67.
Seeing Woods' name at the top of the leaderboard
is no longer surprising.
He won golf's third-oldest national championship
last year by making birdie on the 72nd hole with a 6-iron from
218 yards out of a fairway bunker and over the water at Glen Abbey
Golf Club outside Toronto.
That was his third straight victory, and
ninth of a remarkable season.
This year, despite suggestions that he's
been in a slump twice, he has won five times, including his last
start two weeks ago at Firestone.
The mystery were the guys who joined him
in the lead.
McGovern is playing on conditional status
because he finished 146th on the money list last year, and now
only gets to play tournaments that have room for him. He has missed
his last three cuts, but feels competitive again.
Gogel is the guy who led Woods by seven
strokes in the final round at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
last year, only to finish second. His wife recently had their
first child, and he hasn't played in a month.
Birdies on five consecutive holes showed
that the time off hasn't hurt him.
“That was pretty strong,” Gogel
said. “Five under, when I've taken three weeks off, is a
good start.”
Then there's Muehr, who spent the weekend
at Riviera contending for the Nissan Open. He was tied for the
lead with eight holes to go until he dropped a few shots in a
cold, driving rain and tied for 13th.
That remains his best finish this year.
“I was a rookie and in a situation
where I could have folded up like a Coleman tent,” he said.
“Just the fact that I played well is encouraging for the
next time I'm in that situation. Unfortunately, I haven't put
myself in that situation since then.”
Woods is familiar with these circumstances.
He is trying to become the first player in 50 years to repeat
as Canadian Open champion, and at least this time he should be
able to stick around Royal Montreal until the end.
O'Meara, the '95 Canadian Open champion,
also missed the cut at Royal Montreal in 1997 and flew home with
Woods.
“He didn't like that too much,”
O'Meara said. “And I told him, 'Hey, now you know what I
have to deal with.' But it builds character, and certainly he
has a lot of character.”
Talent comes in handy, too.
Woods hit only two wayward drives, but neither
cost him a bogey. He made an eagle on No. 13 with a 7-iron from
195 yards into 10 feet, and gave himself 11 birdie putts inside
20 feet. He converted three of them, but the other putts peeked
in the hole.
“I'm pleased with the way I just kind
of plodded my way along,” Woods said.
Daly was pleased that he built on his victory
in Germany. He was shocked by the manner in which he posted a
66.
No bogeys.
“I only had three bogeys last week,”
Daly said. “When they told me that, I about fainted. I didn't
realize I didn't have any bogeys today. Wow.”
The next step for Daly — not to mention
Woods and the other co-leaders — is playing Friday afternoon
on a course that already was beginning to get firm and fast under
the blustery winds.
O'Meara was the only player among the top
seven who had to play Thursday afternoon.
His drought hasn't been nearly as long or
turbulent as Daly's, but it has been three years since he won
the Masters and the British Open.
“I would like to believe that if I
got in contention, I could draw on some of the past experience,”
O'Meara said.
Woods no longer has to think about his past
experiences at Royal Montreal. On the course he missed his only
cut, he now is a partial owner of the course record.
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