Sunday, August 19, 2001
Tiger fails to make up ground
at PGA
By BRETT JENSEN
Scripps Howard News Service
DULUTH, Ga. — Considering the strong
finish Tiger Woods had on Friday just to make the cut, there was
a strong belief he would ride the momentum and get himself right
back into contention.
When he teed off at 8:40 local time Saturday
morning to start his third round in the in the 83rd PGA Championship,
there was a feeling he was about to mount a charge.
He did, but only briefly. He got as low
as 3-under-par, but a couple of shots more fitting a weekend hacker
than the world's No. 1 player, threw him back into the ranks of
this major's also-rans.
Woods finished with a 1-under 69 on the
Atlanta Athletic Club course. He stands at 1-under for the tournament
heading into Sunday's final round.
Such a finish has become the rule of late,
rather than the exception.
Ever since his victory at the Memorial Tournament,
Woods' finishes have gotten progressively worse.
At the U.S. Open, Woods finished tied for
12th. He followed that by finishing 16th at the Buick Classic,
20th at the Western Open, and 25th at the British Open.
After Saturday's third round, Woods found
himself tied for 32nd place.
Fans and media alike want to know what's
wrong with the man that's supposed to win every major. After all,
he is the two-time, defending PGA champion and winner of five
of the last eight majors.
But this week all too often, his tee shots
have sailed to the right, and then to the left.
It seems that nearly every other hole, Woods
has had to scramble just to make par.
But through it all, Woods kept battling
his swing to get into decent shape heading into the final nine
holes.
He bogeyed No. 5 to fall to 1-over, but
after getting a birdie on No. 8, he showed some of the old Woods'
drama.
At No. 9, the Woods of old emerged as he
holed out his second shot from 110 yards out for an eagle to go
to 2-under with momentum squarely on his side.
“Starting out, I felt like I was actually
swinging better,” he said. “Even though I pulled a couple
of drives, it was nice to actually hit that kind of drive instead
of losing it way right.
“I finally got it going and had a nice
little three on No. 8 and bumped it in (the hole) in two on No.
9.”
Heading into the 17th hole, he found himself
at 3-under, and with a strong finish, he would be in contention
for a PGA three-peat.
That's when Woods uncharacteristically fell
apart.
His 30-foot putt for birdie at 17 sailed
10 feet by, and he missed the par putt for a three-putt bogey
to drop to 2-under.
Then on his second shot on the difficult
490-yard par-4, 18th, Woods hit his approach shot long and onto
the fringe on the backside of the green.
He stubbed his chip, leaving it 12 feet
short of the hole. He followed that with a missed par putt as
the bogey-bogey finish left many wondering what's wrong.
“I figured that if I could shoot 3,
4, or 5-under par on the final back nine, I'd be right back in
this game, but unfortunately I wasn't able to do it,” Woods
said.
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