Sunday, July 23, 2000
Tiger all but wraps up British
Open, career grand slam
LEW PRICE
The Press-Enterprise
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - The wreckage of
his challengers nearly complete, the 129th British Open now his
to lose, Tiger Woods late Saturday offered the unplayable lie.
"Can I lose?" he said. "Yeah,
it's possible."
Possible, perhaps, when viewed through rose-colored
glasses - from which, it has been suggested, golf is best viewed.
But improbable when viewed from the fairways
and greens of the Old Course of St. Andrews.
In the real world, the 129th British Open
is effectively over.
It effectively concluded Saturday when Woods
continued his mastery of the ancient links, shooting a 67, improving
to 16-under par and doubling his lead to 6 strokes.
Woods will carry his prohibitive lead into
the final round Sunday when he will be paired with the world's
No.2 player, David Duval.
Duval helped engineer the dream pairing
by shooting a 66 that matched the best round of the day and left
him 10-under, tied for second with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn.
Golf has been waiting a little impatiently
for this meeting, the world's two best players head to head in
the final round of a major.
It may well have to wait a little longer
if it is seeking a showdown with real meaning.
Woods is effectively out of reach, and he
is the best closer playing, on the cusp of a historic achievement.
He has carried the lead into the final round
of a tournament 17 times and been overcome only twice.
But Duval is not conceding.
"I wanted to be there," he said.
"It will be a circus. It will be exciting. It will be a slugfest
or whatever you want to call it. I just wanted to make sure I
was there.
"I get to look him in the eye. If I
can swing the club like I have the last few days and putt like
I have, I can show him I've got a little game going right now
too.
Duval could win the duel but still lose
the battle decisively. Curtis Strange shot a 62 on the Old Course
during a Dunhill Cup round. Duval will need at least that and
a lot of hope to catch Tiger today.
"We can say that if he's ahead nobody
has a chance," Duval said. "And we can say if I'm even
as much as 7 behind I have a chance because I've won from that
far behind before.
"I'm going to be trying to win my first
major championship and he's going to be trying to win the Grand
Slam. So there is going to be pressure on both of us."
The two have been paired on Sunday only
once, earlier this year at the Nissan Open. Neither was in contention,
but Woods won the duel, 72-74.
Otherwise, any hint of rivalry has been
the product of wishful thinking.
"Let us be realistic," Duval said.
"There has not been a rivalry. Period. No one has stepped
up and played with him. It's up to us to do that, to give him
that run and eventually beat him."
It's doubtful Woods will retreat today.
To the contrary, he will embrace the opportunity
the final pairing offers.
"I'm going to enjoy it," he said.
"I know the public has wanted it. We're going to give it
everything we have."
Woods will attempt not only to distance
himself further from Duval, but to become the fifth and youngest
player to win the Grand Slam, joining Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan,
Gary Player and Gene Sarazen.
If he wins, Woods will have accomplished
one of golf's most difficult feats in the relative blink of an
eye.
He is five months from his 25th birthday,
only midway through his fourth full year as a professional.
Nicklaus was 26 and in his fifth year when
he completed the first of his three Grand Slams.
Player was 29 when he completed his, Sarazen
33 and Hogan 40.
"Whatever happens, happens," Woods
said. "I'm going to play the best I can play."
Woods, who has played his past six competitive
rounds on the Old Course in 29 under, moved steadily forward while
the rest of the field surged and retreated, ultimately applying
little pressure.
There were bumps, though.
He three-putted the second hole from 25
feet for his first bogey in 37 holes this week and 63 holes of
major competition.
He recovered with a birdie on the third,
hit his tee shot within a foot at the par-3 eighth for another
and dropped a 20-footer on the ninth for another.
He was on the verge of blowing the tournament
open when he drove the green on the 342-yard 10th, but he three-putted
again for par.
The miscue was only a temporary stall.
Woods birdied again on 12, dunked a 25-footer
on 13 then reached the green in 2 and made birdie on the par-5
14th.
He gave one back at the 17th when he three-putted
for the third time but closed with a birdie on the 18th.
And now he needs only to shoot what would
qualify as a modest final-round 69 to eclipse Nick Faldo's 1990
Open record of 18-under.
While Woods chases history, Duval will be
chasing his lost status. He hasn't won in 15 months. He has played
this week solidly despite a sore back he said would have kept
him home for any other tournament.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
