Saturday, March 24, 2001
One more test for Kelly —
a Sunday date with Tiger
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jerry
Kelly wasn't fazed by the pressure of The Players Championship
or the perks that come with winning. On Sunday, he'll find out
if he can handle the final round paired with the best player in
the world.
While the unheralded Kelly plodded along
with only a few mistakes in a solid round of 2-under 70, Tiger
Woods fired off a collection of sensational shots and holed a
60-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to get into the final group his
third tournament in a row.
Despite a bogey on the last hole, Woods
had a 6-under 66 to finish only two strokes behind Kelly going
into the final round on a Stadium Course that is getting firmer,
faster and more unforgiving.
Kelly was at 11-under 205, his only two
bogeys coming on the par 3s.
“Tiger is going to be nervous, too,”
Kelly said. “He hasn't won this tournament, either.”
Woods, who has won every other important
event on the PGA Tour, was at 207 along with Masters champion
Vijay Singh (70). Another stroke back was Scott Hoch, who bogeyed
the 18th for a 71.
At stake Sunday is a chance for Kelly to
win for the first time on the PGA Tour, become an instant millionaire
from the $6 million purse and earn a three-year pass into the
Masters, the one major championship he has never played.
No one has ever got his first PGA Tour victory
in The Players Championship, the tournament considered a fifth
major because of the tough field and demanding course.
Woods only shrugged when asked how Kelly
might feel.
“I haven't been in that position,”
he said. “The first tournament I won wasn't The Players Championship,
it was out in Las Vegas. To have this as your first victory would
be pretty impressive. This golf course is not easy.
“I think he's playing well, and that's
all that matters.”
Woods was spectacular throughout the day,
even when he was spraying the ball all over the Stadium Course
early in his round. From a fairway bunker on the No. 4, his approach
over the stream caught the back of the green and spun back within
a foot of the hole.
He made par on No. 6 from the trees, splitting
the middle of two tall pines and clearing a 40-foot palm near
the green to within 30 feet for a two-putt. He also hit a flop
shot out of mangled rough on No. 8 to 12 feet and made par with
a putt that broke about 12 inches.
Then, he really got it going.
Seven strokes behind Kelly and facing the
crucial part of the course on the TPC at Sawgrass, Woods finally
gave himself a decent chance to reach the par-5 11th in two and
took advantage with an approach to 2 feet for an easy eagle.
His wedge stopped 6 inches from the hole
for birdie on the next hole, and then turned the final three holes
in a series of thrills and adventures.
He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the
16th after having to chop out of thick rough above the green,
and then gave the raucous gallery packed in around the island
green on the par-3 17th something to cheer.
His 9-iron narrowly avoided going in the
drink, stopping on the strip of grass between the green and the
bulkhead. The putt covered 60 feet, drifting to the left as it
reached the ridge, then breaking sharp and fast back to the right.
“I'm glad it hit the hole or it would
have been off the green,” Woods said.
It did, just barely. The ball caught the
right edge of the hole and disappeared — if not, it probably
keeps going another 8 feet. Woods turned and gave a huge uppercut
to the fans.
The excitement didn't last long.
Undecided between 3-iron and 2-iron off
the tee, Woods tried to smoke the 3-iron and pushed it into the
rough, with no chance to reach the green. He had to make a nice
chip out of the rough a 5-foot putt to make bogey.
“It absolutely was a stupid decision
on my part on the tee shot,” Woods said. “I picked the
wrong club, but so goes it. I'm bummed because it was a bogey.”
Kelly came out firing, too, with birdies
on the first two holes and a great chip to save par after plunking
a spectator with a wild approach shot to the right of the fifth
green.
His first bogey came on No. 8, which dropped
him into a tie with Paul Azinger.
Azinger disappeared with bogeys on four
of the next five holes and a triple bogey on No. 14, dropping
seven shots on six holes. He finished at 74 and was at 210.
Woods was in the final group at Dubai, where
a double bogey on the final hole cost him a victory against Thomas
Bjorn. Two weeks later at Bay Hill, he turned two bad drives into
birdies to win by one stroke over Phil Mickelson.
Next up is Kelly, a former hockey player
who doesn't have nearly as much experience but doesn't seem to
care.
Azinger gave him a pep talked as they walked
off the 18th green.
“I told him, 'It's not about him, it's
all about you,'” Azinger said. “Mind your own business.
Play your own game. Get on out there and ignore the reality of
who you're playing with.”
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