Sunday, September
22, 2002
Tiger sailing to
$1 million payoff
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
THOMASTOWN, Ireland
(AP) - Despite no bogeys over the first 54 holes and his largest
lead in two years, Tiger Woods figures he needs one more round
of good golf to capture the American Express Championship.
Everyone else might
need a lot more than that.
"It will take
something in the 50s to catch him," Jerry Kelly said after
spending Saturday watching Woods put on another clinic at Mount
Juliet.
Woods didn't hit
the ball as crisply as he did the first two days, but he still
produced a nonchalant round of 5-under 67 on a stunningly gorgeous
afternoon in Ireland.
Birdies on the final
two holes, the last one following a 5-iron that stopped 4 feet
from the cup, left Woods at 19-under 197 and gave him a five-stroke
lead over a half-dozen players, none of whom sounded overly optimistic
about their chances.
"Tiger is playing
awfully well," Steve Lowery said. "I think I'll need
the round of my life to beat him."
Scott McCarron set
a course record with an 8-under 64. He was at 202 and will be
paired with Woods in the final group Sunday. They also played
Mount Juliet together, along with Mark O'Meara, the week before
the British Open in July.
Woods beat him that
day, although McCarron had an excuse. He celebrated his 37th birthday
the previous day, and wasn't exactly in fighting form.
"It was a tough
round for him," Woods recalled with a smile.
Lowery, who has made
only one bogey this week, didn't make enough birdies Saturday
and wound up with a 69. Also in the group at 14-under 202 were
Vijay Singh (66), Retief Goosen (68), Kelly (70) and David Toms
(69).
What will it take?
"Something lower
than Scott McCarron's 64," Toms said. "I think I could
shoot something lower, post it and see what happens."
Rocco Mediate had
a 67, and at 13-under 203 was asked if that put him in contention.
"I don't know
what the man's up to," he said, as Woods was still on the
course. "If you're five or six behind, there's not much of
a chance."
Woods now has gone
64 holes without a bogey, dating to the NEC Invitational at Sahalee.
That put him in position to build on an even more daunting streak.
He is ruthless with
the 54-hole lead _ 29-4 worldwide when he has at least a share
of the lead going into the final round. The last time he failed
to win was the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic, when Thomas Bjorn overcame
a one-stroke deficit.
This time the margin
is five, Woods' largest lead since he led by nine over Phillip
Price going into the last day at the 2000 NEC Invitational, another
World Golf Championship event. He went on to win by 11 shots.
Woods' largest third-round
lead ever was 10 strokes in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and
even then he refused to claim the tournament was over.
"This golf course,
you can shoot some low numbers on it," Woods said. "The
greens are so good, anyone can come out tomorrow and shoot a low
one. I have to keep making birdies and playing well."
They didn't come
that easily on Saturday.
Even though Woods
finally drove the ball well _ he missed only one fairway, by 2
feet _ he rarely gave himself good looks at birdie.
The par 5s were another
story. Woods looked away in disgust after belting his driver on
the eighth hole, thinking it hopped into a bunker. Instead, it
kicked into the fairway, and he hit a 3-iron from 255 yards that
stopped 18 feet to the right, even with the pin.
He came close to
a bogey twice, but relied on a deft short game.
On the par-3 sixth,
his chip from thick rough was so pure that it looked as though
Woods lobbed it onto the green like a church-league softball pitcher.
He made a 6-footer for par there, then holed another 6-footer
on the 13th for par.
Woods has never played
a 72-hole event without a bogey. He didn't say that would mean
more to him than winning the Ryder Cup, but it would bring some
measure of satisfaction.
It would mean I not
only played well, I really grinded well the entire week, sucked
it up and made those big par putts," Woods said. "And
I've done that the first three days."
Also on his mind
is another World Golf Championship. He has already won four of
them, at least one every year since the series began in 1999.
Because he is not likely to play in the World Cup at the end of
the year, this is his last chance.
"You take pride
in competing against the best players in the world," he said.
"And hopefully, beating them."
That looks like a
strong probability at Mount Juliet.
The Jack Nicklaus
design has generous landing areas and perfect greens, so pure
that McCarron raised his arms when his bunker shot on No. 16 was
still 10 feet from the hole. He knew it was going in.
With the Ryder Cup
next week, Woods appears to have his game in order.
"Ball striking,
I think I've hit the ball better at the U.S. Open this year,"
he said. "Putting, controlling my pace on each and every
putt, ranks up there with Augusta."
He won both those
majors.
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