Saturday, June 15, 2002
Chalk up another Woods win
Players endure raindrops but can't avoid Tiger's storm
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The mere mortals were taking on water like sponges, slapping the wet from the brims of their ballcaps, looking miserable, playing for the silver medal. Tiger Woods was high and dry, leading by three shots after the second round.
It's over. It might have been over Thursday, when Woods dropped in a birdie on the last hole to take a one-stroke lead. It's definitely over now, after Woods birdied Nos. 1 and 2 Friday in rain so persistent, it was like playing golf in the shower. Only Tiger Woods can win the Open in 36 holes.
Who's going to catch him?
Sergio Garcia? Mr. Grip It and Re-Grip It? Nice kid, charismatic, unfazed by Tiger Mystique.
Woods points and yells fore right after an errant tee shot on No. 13.
(AP photo)
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What is he doing out there? Why is he pumping his hands that way? It looks like he's milking a cow. When Woods dropped an 8-foot downhiller for birdie on No. 18, Garcia was five shots back and playing for fabulous consolation prizes.
Here's what we learned about Tiger on Friday. Here's what we observed while sitting beneath nature's faucet for five hours:
Nobody grinds harder. Nobody tunnels his vision more. Woods has so much ability, it can obscure how hard he works, on and off the course. Friday left no doubt.
Woods didn't slay Bethpage Black; after the first two holes, he slopped around in the puddles, earning everything the course gave him. Ultimately, it wasn't Woods who wore out.
He never lets up. When you have more talent than anyone else, work as hard as anyone else, with a focus keener than anyone else, anyone else has no chance.
Woods' par saves were better than his birdies, the true measure of a grinder. At the short par-4 9th, he missed the fairway with his tee shot. His approach landed deep in a bunker. Woods blasted to 8 feet and made the putt.
At the 499-yard par-4 12th, he drove into the wilderness. Woods was nearly 200 yards from the green, in deep, slick rough. He landed his approach 20 feet from the hole. The birdie putt just missed.
At 15, he saved par again from a front bunker, with an 8-foot putt. At 17, a par-3, his tee shot found the high grass behind a green that sloped away from him. The ball was so deep, he could barely see it. Woods needed to hit a high, soft shot that would land softly and roll little. It required the touch of a safe-cracker. He nearly holed it.
And so on.
“Everyone's going to have to deal with it,” Woods said of the weather. “It's going to be a wet day, a long day and a slow one. Just plod along.”
On the greens at Nos. 13 and 14, Woods turned his ballcap backward, Tiger's very own Junior-ism. The gallery got a laugh out of it. Woods never changed expression. He didn't do it for grins; he did it because the rain from the cap's bill was falling into his eyes.
Watching Woods march through the slop Friday, deep in his concentration bunker, you got the feeling Halle Berry could walk beside him in her birthday suit, and he wouldn't see her.
Woods has won the last 12 Tour events that he has led after 36 holes. Unless they make him play 700-yard par-4s and greens with loop-de-loops and windmills, he'll win again Sunday.
“I've still got to play 36 more holes. It's not like they're going to have an awards presentation today,” Woods said. Sometimes, you have to read between Tiger's lines. What he meant was, “Unless I screw up royally, which I probably won't, it's over.”
When he says, “It's easy to make birdies. You get rewarded for making pars,” well, you know what he means.
Elvis has left the tournament. The Open is now closed, won by a grinder with unique talent. Dry off, and thanks for coming.
Contact Paul Daugherty by phone: 768-8454; e-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com.
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