| AP Sports Headlines |
Sunday, July 21, 2002
By GLENN SHEELEY
Cox News Service
GULLANE, Scotland - It served as solace for golfers everywhere. If Tiger Woods can shoot an 81 in a major championship while trying for the Grand Slam, then truly anything happen in this strange game invented 600 years ago by the people who live here.
For much of four hours Saturday in bitter cold and driving rain in the third round of the 131st British Open, the world's No. 1 player struggled like never before as a professional, shooting his highest round since turning pro six years ago.
Woods looked more like a 10-handicapper kicking it around the Bobby Jones Golf Course than someone out to establish the modern version of Bobby Jones' 1930 achievement.
He shot 42 on the front nine, not worst in the field, but then this was the best player on the planet, too. Woods made two double-bogeys, seven bogeys and a birdie. He chunked a chip. He took two shots to exit a bunker.
"Thank God I was grinding," Woods said. "It could have been really ugly."
When Woods finally birdied the 17th, making a 4-footer, he raised his arms in mock triumph. Tapping knuckles after the putt with buddy Mark O'Meara, who shot a 77, Tiger managed a smile.
"At least I didn't get shut out," he said. "If you're not hitting the ball solid and not making 8- or 10-footers for par, your score's going to add up. . . . But if you're swinging well, you can play under these conditions.
Just barely. Woods said he "ripped a 5-iron" on the 378-yard third hole, and it traveled 135 yards. "And I hit it good," he said.
Players in the morning tee times were holding the 191-yard 13th with 7- and 8-irons. When the wind shifted angrily at mid-afternoon, Woods couldn't get a 4-iron there. Holding his umbrella firmly into the driving rain at one stage, Woods even laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
Until Saturday, Woods' high round was a 79 in the 1996 Holden Australian Open, when he was 20 and a pro for just a few months. Lately, he's won seven of the past 11 majors.
The way Woods has dominated golf, it would take an act of nature to dislodge him. The weather hit about a half hour before he and O'Meara teed off and battered him for about three hours. He was 5 over after six holes.
"This is a tough and difficult golf course with the rough being knee high and the wind and the rain coming sideways," Woods said. "I don't know if there was any sleet in it, but it sure hurt."
Glenn Sheeley writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: gsheeley@ajc.com
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