Monday, June 18, 2001
Streak of four majors ends
as Woods can't rally in Open
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A remarkable string
of golf came to a close for Tiger Woods on a steamy Sunday afternoon
when he failed to mount the miraculous comeback that both he and
his fans somehow expected in the U.S. Open.
For the first time in five major championships,
Woods wasn't holding the champion's trophy aloft. Perhaps more
shockingly, he was a mere also-ran as he played his way down the
finishing holes at Southern Hills.
The Open was still to be decided when Woods,
alone in his car after a day in which he was surrounded by tens
of thousands, drove out of the country club parking lot.
“I played as hard as I could,”
Woods said. “I tried on every shot and there's no regrets.”
Not for Woods, maybe. But there were for
those who wanted to watch another piece of magic from a player
who has already etched a deep spot in the game's history books.
An unprecedented even money favorite to
win the Open, Woods instead finished with his second straight
69 for a 3-over 283 total. That was seven shots behind Mark Brooks
and Retief Goosen, who will meet in an 18-hold Monday playoff
for the championship.
It was the first time in 41 tournaments
Woods had failed to break par.
Was he relieved that the streak was over?
No. Tired? Definitely.
“I don't think people really understand
how difficult it is on you to keep putting yourself there and
the stress it puts on you coming down the back nine on Sunday
with a chance to win,” Woods said. “More times than
not it wears you out.”
Woods teased the throngs who followed him
early with some spectacular shots that hinted of a possible charge
from nine shots back. He reached the monster 642-yard fifth hole
in two and was 2 under through seven.
“Bless you, Tiger,” a woman called
out as he walked to the seventh green.
In the end, though, the cheers that washed
over the 18th green weren't for him this time. They belonged to
Rocco Mediate, who was making a birdie putt on the adjacent ninth
green as Woods finished a week that never was.
“It was fun to win four majors in a
row, there's no doubt about that,” Woods said. “Unfortunately,
I'm not out there with the chance to win. That is frustrating,
but I've had my share. And, hopefully, I can have my share in
the future.”
There's little doubt of that for the player
already recognized as the greatest of his era at the tender age
of 25. But for one week, at least, the golf course got the better
of him.
Woods blamed it on a swing that just wouldn't
cooperate in the first two rounds. Others said it might have been
a course that gave others a more equal chance.
Southern Hills is full of doglegs and big
trees, and for the Open it had only two par-5s, where Woods usually
dominates.
“The golf course equalized him,”
Matt Gogel said. “It didn't allow him to use his driver.
I think he was playing from a spot most of us were playing from.”
Woods began the final day without the numbers
on his side. Being 9 behind was bad enough. Having 22 players
in front of him made it worse.
The third-round leaders hadn't even arrived
at the course when Woods took a driver off the first tee and promptly
hit it in the rough. On the next hole he hit it into the trees
and made bogey to go an even 10 shots down.
Then he began looking like the real Tiger
Woods.
A short iron to 3 feet on No. 4 brought
a birdie. On the next hole, Woods muscled a drive some 360 yards
and followed it with a 3-wood that put him on the green of the
longest par-5 in Open history and he two putted for another birdie.
A third birdie followed on No. 7.
The ninth hole, though, got him again. Woods
made double bogey there the first day and he spun an iron off
the front of the green to make bogey again Sunday.
He stood looking at the scoreboard to see
where he stood. By then, it didn't really matter.
“Once I realized that there really
wasn't a chance to win, you've still got to fight,” Woods
said. “You can't bag it. You can't dog it coming in.”
True to himself, Woods didn't. He played
the back nine even par to finish with his second straight 69.
The two weekend scores weren't bad, but the 74-71 he began with
did Woods in.
All that was left was to change his shoes
in the clubhouse, and head out while players with names like Retief
Goosen, Stewart Cink and Mark Brooks battled for the trophy that
was supposed to be his for a second year in a row.
But not without a few laughs first. He had
one when asked if it was the most disappointed he's been after
a major in a long time.
“Considering I won the last four, yes,”
Woods said.
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