Sunday, May 28, 2000
Woods blitzes field for six-stroke
lead in Memorial
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) - On the table next to
Tiger Woods' chair Saturday was a bottle of water, not a trophy,
a reminder that there's still one round left to play in the Memorial
Tournament.
Try getting everyone else to believe that.
Harrison Frazar, who trailed Woods by one
stroke when the third round began on soft, soggy Muirfield Village,
finished the day 14 strokes behind and became the latest member
of the Tiger Woods Fan Club.
"It's been a long time since I've played
with him, and now I know why," Frazar said.
Ernie Els thought he had seen it all. He
has had four sensational battles with Woods since 1998, but could
only watch as Woods manhandled Muirfield Village for a 7-under
65 to build the largest 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour in two years.
"He's just awesome, man," Els
said.
Woods will be paired Sunday with Steve Lowery,
who birdied the 18th for a 66 that left him six strokes behind.
Let's see. Lowery, whose only PGA Tour victory
came six years ago, will spot the No. 1 player in the world six
strokes on the course built by Jack Nicklaus but now seemingly
owned by Woods.
"I'd have to bet on Tiger," Lowery
said.
Safe bet.
Of course, anything is possible. Woods could
get the kind of migraine that made Mike Weir feel as though the
Ohio State marching band was playing "Hang On, Sloopy"
inside his head. He could miss his tee time. He could slip the
non-conforming Callaway ERC driver in his bag and get disqualified.
He could retire.
Then again, just last week in Germany, Woods
had a three-stroke lead going into the final round and finished
third, the first time since 1996 he had let a 54-hole lead get
away.
"Oh, come on guys," Els said.
"Don't even try. It's over."
Woods made his first bogey in 48 holes on
No. 18, but still was at 17-under 199 and has plenty room for
error as he tries to become the first repeat champion in the 25-year
history of the Memorial.
The six-stroke lead is the largest on tour
for 54 holes since David Duval led by seven in Tucson in 1998,
and its the most for Woods since he took a nine-stroke lead into
the final round of the 1997 Masters and won by 12.
Woods, however, was not ready to polish
off his victory speech.
"If it were over, there would be a
trophy," he said.
Still, he was looking ahead to a chance
to make his first successful title defense since he turned pro.
"It would be nice to get that over
with, and then I don't have to hear anymore questions about it,"
he said.
Justin Leonard, made an ace on No. 8 and
had a 66. It was as good as Leonard has felt about his results
all year, and the fact he was seven strokes behind was not about
to spoil his mood.
The same can't be said for Harrison Frazar,
who started the third round just one stroke behind Woods, and
Els, trying to win for the first time in over a year.
By the time they walked off the seventh
green, Woods had a 10-stroke advantage over Els and was six ahead
of Frazar. Both got caught up watching an awesome display of golf
that featured a six-hole stretch in which Woods was 6 under.
"He hit shots today that I don't know
if any other human can hit," said Frazar, who had a 43 on
the back nine and wound up with a 78.
Woods, who said he "got around"
for a 63 on Friday, actually hit the ball much more crisply on
Saturday, when players could lift, clean and place their ball
in the fairway because of overnight rains and a light drizzle
late in the round.
For a while, there were whispers of a 59
in the gallery, and for good reason.
After a couple of short birdie putts on
Nos. 3 and 4, Woods narrowly missed a 40-foot eagle putt, then
hit a shot that left Frazar shaking his head. From a slightly
downhill lie, 238 yards to carry a bunker on the par-5 seventh,
Woods hit a 3-iron that grazed the cup and stopped 20 feet away.
"A heel-pull," Woods said.
He was trying to hit the middle of the green,
but instead the ball swung left toward the flag. Oh, well.
He then hit 7-iron to 10 inches on the par-3
8th for a tap-in birdie, reducing Els and Frazar to a role of
bystander.
"It's not that he was 6 under over
six holes," Frazar said. "It was how he was doing it."
Woods said the thought of a 59 never entered
his head. He just wanted to birdie the next hole, and gave himself
a chance at that. Still, when his 10-foot birdie putt on No. 9
just turned off at the left, Woods swung his putter and winced.
Similarly, he fells to his knees when an
18-footer for eagle on No. 11 and a 20-footer for birdie on No.
12 curled over the lip.
"I hit the ball much better than I
did yesterday," Woods said. "I just didn't make as many
putts." His rounds of 63-65 broke by three strokes the Memorial
record for best score in consecutive rounds.
Weir had a 68 and was at 207, while the
group at 209 included Els (72), Masters champion Vijay Singh (68)
and Hal Sutton (67).
By the time Sutton finished his round, someone
in the gallery shouted, "Nice round." Sutton looked
over his shoulder at the leaderboard and shook his head.
"Yeah," he said. "But we're
getting farther behind."
Nicklaus, the tournament founder, had a
72 and was at 220, while 31-year-old son Gary struggled on an
easy day for scoring, a 2-over 74 that left him at 214.
Woods, meanwhile, putted for eagle on three
of the par 5s and said he would attack on Sunday whenever he had
a chance. He needs only a 69 to break the Memorial scoring record
of 268 set by Tom Lehman in 1994.
Amazing?
"The amazement has gone away,"
Leonard said of Woods.
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