Tiger Woods knew he had no chance of claiming victory at the Memorial Tournament even before he walked to the first tee for his final 18 yesterday. He looked to be in position to contend early on in the third round, making the turn at 32 following birdies on the odd-numbered holes, but found his aim for a provisional spot close to the leaders stunted by a double bogey on the 10th. He limped with an even-par showing from then on, leaving himself in the mid-20s and 11 strokes off the pace. As he noted in his post-mortem, “I’m so far back … I’m not going to win.”
Still, Woods wasn’t about to let his fourth round go to waste. He aimed to “get some positive momentum” going into the (United States) Open next week, and figured a solid performance at Muirfield would, at the very least, prove he had the game for Pebble Beach. And, true enough, he did, combining accurate driving with solid iron play and outstanding putting to go a remarkable seven strokes under par through 12 holes. The traditional Sunday-red charge was on, and he found himself in fourth with the final third of his round still to be negotiated.
Unfortunately, Woods didn’t get much from then on. In fact, he dropped shots on the 14th and 18th to finish five under for the day and nine under all told, good for ninth. Considering how much ground he had to make up, it was still a fine finish. “Overall, it was a great day. I hit the ball really well and made some nice putts,” he said. Indeed, he found the fairway and the greens 12 and 14 times out of 14 and 18, respectively — as clear a sign as any that he’s sharp and ready for the rigors ahead. And, what’s more, he feels he can still do better.
Whether or not Woods is capable or stringing together outstanding golf through four days at Pebble Beach remains to be seen. The good news is that the US Golf Association’s promise to do better than recent memory in setting up the course — traditionally favoring shotmaking over length — should cater to his strengths. Meanwhile, he’s in high spirits, filled with happy thoughts as he preps for the sport’s most stringent test of the year.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
