Sunday, June 17, 2001
Woods believes he's still in
open hunt
By JIM MCCABE
c.2001 The Boston Globe
TULSA, Okla. — There were roars from
all corners of Southern Hills Country Club during Saturday's third
round of the US Open, though they came not from Tiger Woods. Instead,
they belonged to men who have walked in his shadows for too many
tournaments to count.
Surprised? Well, Rocco Mediate has news
for you: “All the big guns can't play good all the time.
It just ain't gonna happen.”
In other words, get over the fact that Woods,
after salvaging his first subpar effort of the tournament —
a 1-under 69 — is stuck in a tie for 23d, nine shots off
a pace being set by unheralded South African Retief Goosen (70)
and two-time PGA Tour winner Stewart Cink (67). They both plunged
to 5-under 205 with stretches of bogey-free golf that tested all
phases of their games.
Goosen and Cink refused to jam it into reverse
on a day when Woods, desperately trying to breathe life into his
fading chances, needed a massive collapse on the leaderboard.
But Goosen and Cink weren't alone, because into the mix at 4 under
charged Mediate (67), Sergio Garcia (68), and Mark Brooks (70),
while the beguiling Phil Mickelson continued to amaze and mystify
at the same time. The lefthander closed his round in his inimitable
style — a birdie at the par-4 17th, a bogey at the par-4
18th — to shoot 68—207 and pull into solo sixth.
There also are names of note at even par
— Paul Azinger (69) and David Duval (71) — but in a
perfect example of how the golf world is captivated by Woods,
it was his words that were being scribbled down in earnest by
the golf writers, as if he had a chance. “Anybody within
10 shots of the lead can still win the tournament,” said
Woods, brushing a serious case of wishful thinking on the proceedings.
But how strange to not see Woods's name
on the leaderboard, it was suggested to Mickelson. “Well,
it's always up there somewhere,” he said. “This time
it's on the bottom.”
Whoa, there, fellas, go to your corners.
It's a bitter rivalry, of course, and this is major championship
pressure, but save it for another time. Sunday, it'll be a survival
test among six, maybe eight, players. How it got to that was great
theater.
There was the bogey, double-bogey start
by Cink, who fell to 1 over and appeared to be one of those cooperating
with Woods's hopes for a collapse. However, Cink stopped the slide
with a pep talk. “Just try and put your nose to the grindstone,”
he told himself, “and forget about it.”
In splendid style, Cink did just that, running
off four straight birdies, starting at the par-4 fourth, then
playing the back side in two birdies and seven pars to share low-round
honors on the day.
That Mediate had one of the other 67s was
no surprise, at least not to him, because “all week I've
loved this course.” Going out in 34, then coming home with
three birdies on his final eight holes certainly increased Mediate's
appreciation of Southern Hills, but he has a wish for Sunday:
“I'd rather it be the hardest course (possible).”
Cink and Mediate kind of sneaked up on people,
having trailed by two and three shots, respectively, at the start.
Goosen was one of the three co-leaders through 36 holes, the only
one who stayed on top. The others fell back, Brooks just slightly,
J.L. Lewis (77—213, T-16) with a crash.
How Goosen — he of the nine greens
hit in regulation — stayed afloat would make for a short-game
highlight film. He birdied the par-4 fourth to move to 5 under,
gave it back at the par-4 seventh, but regained solo possession
of the lead with the only birdie at the par-4 ninth made by someone
on the first page of the leaderboard.
To the back he went, a red “5”
beside his name, a loose swing in his arsenal. But no worries,
because he threw a wedge game at the packed house that had spectators
asking, “Eldrick Who?”
At the par-3 14th, Goosen saved par from
a greenside bunker.
At the par-4 15th, his approach missed on
the short side, in thick, gnarly Bermuda rough, no less. Another
brilliant wedge, another 6-footer.
The par-4 16th? He went from fairway bunker
to greenside bunker, to 8 feet, to one-putt par.
The 17th? Drive into the left rough, approach
left of the green in more of the thick stuff, then a wedge that
rolled over the left lip of the hole and was kicked in for par.
Then, for a finishing act, Goosen drove
into the right rough at the 466-yard 18th, simply the hardest
par-4 on the planet. You don't get it home from there, but this
is a guy who survived getting struck by lightning, so who's to
tell him that? He slammed it out, ran it to the back of the green,
and two-putted to preserve his share of the lead.
Great drama, though Goosen had plenty of
company. There were, after all, the flashy talents of Garcia and
Mickelson. The 21-year-old Spaniard, criticized loudly by those
who think his swing is unfit for this level of play, went out
in 34, then came home with three birdies and two bogeys to get
himself into position for a major title for the first time since
the PGA Championship in 1999.
Mickelson, meanwhile, was starting to display
a rarely seen side — 16 holes without a bogey, stretching
back to Round 2 — when he lost a shot at the par-4 10th by
knocking a wedge into a greenside bunker from just 128 yards.
When he missed a 12-foot eagle putt at the par-4 13th, not to
mention the 4-footer coming back, it seemed to be slipping away,
but Mickelson promptly birdied the par-3 14th.
“There were a lot of birdie opportunities,”
said Mickelson. “Today was the day to go low.”
Except he rides a roller coaster like no
other. A bogey at the par-4 15th, a par at 16, a birdie at 17,
a bogey at 18 that knocked him out of a share of third place.
When it was added up, “I shot 2 under (68) and I'm pleased
with where I'm at,” said Mickelson, who knows his view is
far better than that of the guy who is stuck in a tie for 23d.
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