Monday, June 04, 2001
You have to feel for Azinger
DUBLIN — There is a definite moment now, during these TigerFests, when the competition ceases and the performance begins. Tiger Woods stops playing against the field and starts playing alone. What's left for us is to watch his show. To catch a glimpse of Woods' greatness as it blows by.
It came at the par-5 fifth hole Sunday. Paul Azinger hit a 3-wood approach into the water. Woods hit a 2-iron, um, 249 yards to the green. Woods made eagle, Azinger bogey. Just like that, 'Zinger's one-shot lead became Tiger's two-shot dominance. Woods doesn't mess with body shots when he's ready to win. He goes straight for the head.
Sufficiently rattled, Azinger made bogey at the sixth; Woods
parred it. Tiger then brought the par-5 seventh to its knees, with a birdie. That was routine for Woods, who was 14-under par on the par-5's this week. Azinger managed a par, but the deal was done.
Woods was four shots ahead, with 12 holes to play. He was playing with house money. By the 17th hole, Azinger was moved to apologize to Woods.
“Sorry I wasn't a better player for you today,” Azinger said.
“Thank you,” Woods replied.
No friend of fate
Too bad for Azinger. Too bad for all the PGA Tour-ists, who will have the best seats in Tiger's house for the next decade. As Stewart Cink noted: “It's hard to beat that guy when he's playing that way. It's all about minor victories sometimes.”
Feel especially for Azinger today. He started his week by giving the keynote speech for his late friend Payne Stewart, this year's Memorial honoree. Azinger decided then that winning this tournament would not be fate: “I'm not into all that mystical stuff.”
By Sunday night, after the grind of trying to beat Woods and pay tribute to his friend had left him a spent lump, Azinger admitted a bit of mysticism might have helped. “I was hoping that at the end of the week, I'd believe in fate,” Azinger said.
He could tell you some things about arbitrary, capricious fate. Lymphoma hit him in 1994. Five years later, Stewart died in a plane crash. A Nobel Prize to the person offering a reason for either.
Best not good enough
Azinger is a tough guy, which is why he led after three rounds without any faith in his long game. “All I had was a good wedge,” he said. It wasn't enough against Woods. What is?
“Fate couldn't overcome poor technique,” Azinger said.
By No.11 Sunday, Azinger was whacking his second shot out of the pudding off the right fairway; Woods was cruising — “almost bored” according to 'Zinger — lobbing short irons to birdie distance. He could have been filing his nails.
Azinger took a standing-eight count at the 11th; the field had been run-ruled a few holes before that.
What was left during the last two hours of this Memorial was incredulous chuckles — TigerLaughs — from Woods' bloated gallery (TigerNation) as Woods made shot after eye-raising shot.
Azinger gave it what he had, though. Fate wasn't kind. Neither was his 3-wood.
E-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/daugherty.
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DAUGHERTY: You have to feel for Azinger