Saturday, February 3, 2001
Another chance for Gogel; Tiger falls back
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Tiger Woods was 2-over par and
quickly losing ground to the leaders on a course that's usually
a pushover for players with far less ability.
Woods has never played Poppy Hills particularly well, so it was
no surprise when he let out a heavy sigh and said, “It feels
like Groundhog Day.”
It was, in more ways than one Friday.
Back in the picture at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was Matt
Gogel, the victim of Woods' spectacular comeback last year. He
tied the course record at Poppy Hills with a career-best 62 that
gave him a three-stroke lead over Vijay Singh.
Singh was part of the drama last year, too. He was one stroke
back going into the final round and finished in a tie for second
with Gogel.
Woods wasted another soft, still and sunny day on the Monterey
Peninsula with a 1-over 73 on a course that has five par 5s.
Where did that leave him? Eight strokes behind, the same spot
he was in after 36 holes last year.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that comedian Bill Murray is back
at Pebble Beach. He starred in the movie “Groundhog Day”
about a TV meteorologist stuck on the same day.
Gogel can only hope for a better outcome.
“It would be a heck of a story if it continues this way,”
he said. “But we're only halfway through. It's a long way
until Sunday.”
Gogel was in control last year, cruising through the Cliffs of
Dooms until he played the final eight holes in 4 over and Woods
put together a comeback that ranks among his best, an eagle-birdie-par-birdie
finish.
Gogel has seen the replay of Woods' holing that wedge shot from
the fairway on No. 15 more times than he would like. He also has
reflected on his own mistakes, which haunted him the rest of his
rookie season.
After a nearly flawless round on another gorgeous day, the 29-year-old
from Kansas has given himself another chance.
“I was anxious to come back because I love this place,”
Gogel said. “It wasn't like I was coming back for unfinished
business.”
With birdies on the last three holes, Gogel finished at 131 and
managed to separate himself from the pack after two pristine days
at Pebble.
The pack did not include Woods.
Despite playing the same course as Gogel and Singh — and
the easiest of three in the rotation — Woods bungled the
first two pars 5s and was over par for the second time in his
last five rounds.
“My swing was never in sync,” Woods said.
Singh, who wound up tied with Gogel two strokes behind Woods last
year, also played Poppy and had a 68 to get to 134.
The group at 135 included Kemper Open champion Tom Scherrer and
Frank Lickliter, who was one stroke behind the late Payne Stewart
after 54 holes two years ago and never got a chance when the final
round was washed out.
That shouldn't be a problem this year, not with that stranger
known as the sun gracing all three courses.
“This is the most sunshine we've seen in the last five years,
all packed into two days,” Lickliter said after his 66 at
Poppy Hills.
Phil Mickelson, who won Pebble Beach in 1998 when the final round
was pushed back seven months to August, had a 66 at Spyglass Hill
and was at 8-under 136.
Gogel has 36 holes left to protect this lead, but his game is
holding up just fine. He has played his last 31 holes without
a bogey, and he did the one thing Woods failed to do at Poppy
Hills by taking advantage of the par 5s.
Gogel birdied all five of them, including the 555-yard ninth hole
for a 62. His previous best round was a 63 in the third round
at Las Vegas.
Woods didn't appear to be bothered by the ligament he sprained
in his left knee Wednesday when he collided with an overzealous
man seeking an autograph.
He sprinted up a steep slope left of the 12th green to see where
his blind pitch shot land. It was 4 feet from the hole and he
saved his par on the 531-yard hole.
It was part of an ominous start to a sloppy day. He hit a 4-iron
into the water on the par-5 10th hole to take bogey, and really
chopped up the 531-yeard 12th. His 3-wood went through the fairway
behind the pine trees. He pitched sideways into the 13th fairway,
then tried to scale a row of 45-foot pines to the green.
Saving par with the great pitch at least restored some of his
humor.
“Hi, I'm Tiger Woods. I'm playing with you today,” Woods
told Mark O'Meara, a common introduction when amateurs are playing
with pros.
Woods proceeded to bogey the next two holes. When he finally strung
together some good shots, his putts bumped along and kept him
frustrated.
“I broke 80,” he shrugged. “I never really felt
comfortable. As much as I tried to grind it out and get in the
clubhouse, I never could hit the good shots when I needed to.”
When asked whether he looked at his round as a blown opportunity
because Poppy is such an easy course, Woods replied curtly, “I
look at the fact I didn't play well.”
“You can have a muny course as easy as can be,” he said.
“But if you're not playing good, you're not playing good.”
The consolation? He's far from out of it.
The example of that will forever be Pebble Beach last year, when
he showed that no lead is safe until he's no longer on the course.
And this time, he gets 36 holes — not seven — to try
to make up the deficit.
Gogel figures he'll be better prepared this time, if he finds
himself in that position again.
“I've still got one more course in my rotation,” he
said. “We'll worry about Sunday on Sunday.”
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