Monday, June 4, 2001
Tiger takes control from Azinger on fateful
5th
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Paul Azinger won the 1993 Memorial Tournament
with one shot. It took twice that many in the span of 5 minutes
to turn the 2001 Memorial into a rout — one by Azinger, the
other by Tiger Woods.
Azinger came to the 5th hole in Sunday's final round holding off
Woods by a stroke.
As the playing partners left the 527-yard, par-5, Azinger was
barely hanging on and Woods had a firm grip on his third crystal
Memorial trophy.
“It was a momentum shift at that point,” Azinger said.
“That was obviously huge — a three-shot swing.”
Azinger won the Memorial eight years ago when he holed a bunker
shot on the 72nd hole to overcome playing partner and friend Payne
Stewart's one-stroke lead.
Azinger was one of the guest speakers Wednesday afternoon as Stewart
— who died in a 1999 plane crash — was celebrated as
this year's Memorial Tournament honoree. It was an emotional time
as Azinger told stories about how he met Stewart, how they had
played in the same band, how they had grown and matured together.
“I was hoping at the end of the week I would believe in fate,”
Azinger said with a laugh.
Azinger had led the Memorial by two shots through 36 holes and
by a stroke — over Woods — heading into the final round.
Playing in the final group with Woods, who had won the last two
Memorials, Azinger was playing well but knew what he was up against.
“He's a phenom,” Azinger said of Woods, who has won
the last four major championships and five of the last six.
After both players hit drivers off the No. 5 tee, Azinger stepped
up with his 3-wood. It was Azinger's 3-wood which had been his
salvation on Saturday after the face cracked on his driver and
he snapped the shaft on a backup driver. Forced to consistently
hit the 3-wood off the tee, he played the final 13 holes of the
third round 3 under.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Woods, which he doubled with
a birdie on No. 1. Woods cut the lead back to a stroke with a
12-foot birdie putt on 2.
Then came the fateful 5th.
Azinger's 3-wood from 238 yards hung in the damp, cool air and
bounced into the pond fronting the green.
“I was trying to go to the right of the green,” Azinger
said. “I wasn't trying to go to the flag. I hit the shot
I wanted. I had an opportunity and I just pulled it.”
Woods then stepped to his ball and lifted a 2-iron from 249 yards
that not only carried the water but landed softly on the green,
coming to rest just 4 feet from the cup.
“After Paul put his ball in the water — and it's very
uncharacteristic of him to make a mistake like that — my
main thought was just to get the ball in the air and on dry land
somewhere,” Woods said. “I absolutely flushed this 2-iron.
It was a high, towering draw back up against the winds. I was
praying it was enough club.”
Azinger took his drop, chipped on the green and two-putted for
a bogey that dropped him into a temporary tie for the lead.
Then Woods, who seldom lets his prey squirm out of the trap, hit
the eagle putt that never strayed from its bead in the middle
of the cup.
Suddenly, Woods was at 14 under and Azinger was at 11 under. The
lead would never be fewer than two shots again. Woods would end
up winning by seven shots, with Azinger tying for second with
Sergio Garcia.
Azinger doubted his strategy later.
“I was one shot ahead and my strength all week has been my
wedge game — not my long game — and I maybe should have
just laid back and played to my strength,” he said.
Ultimately, however, Azinger said it probably wouldn't have mattered.
“It was a moon shot,” Azinger said of Woods' 2-iron.
Back in 1993, standing in a gaping bunker next to the 18th green,
Azinger was able to pull some magic out of his golf bag. Not this
time. This time it was Woods.
“I'm amazed by some of the shots I was able to pull off this
week,” Woods said. “If I wanted to step up there and
hit a 2-iron 250 yards in the air and was able to do it, I did
it consistently. That, to me, is kind of cool.”
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