Woods continues to fashion a masterpiece

By Clifton Brown

PEBBLE BEACH, (CALIFORNIA), JUNE 18. In command of his game and in command of the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods appeared headed toward another remarkable masterpiece. By late Saturday afternoon, most players were so far behind Woods, they needed a telescope to see him. Nobody in the 100-year history of the Open had led by six strokes after 36 holes. Nobody, that is, until Saturday.

Nobody in recent years had dominated the Open this way, leading the Open by 10 strokes through three rounds. Nobody, that is, until Saturday.

Leaving the field behind, and leaving many of his peers in awe, Woods seemed destined to win his third major championship on Sunday at the age of 24. Continuing an incredible three-day performance at Pebble Beach, Woods finished the day eight under par for the tournament (65-69-71), holding his enormous 10-stroke lead over Ernie Els, who was two over par through three rounds (215, 74-73-68). Miguel Angel Jimenez (66-74-76) of Spain and Padraig Harrington (73-71-72) of Ireland were tied for third place at three over par.

In 1997 Woods had another dominating performance at a major, winning the Masters by a record-setting 12 strokes. This performance was also one for the record books. Woods held the largest 54-hole lead in Open history, shattering the previous mark by Jim Barnes, who led the 1921 Open by seven strokes through three rounds. Woods has a chance to win the Open by the largest margin in history. The record is 11 strokes by Willie Smith in 1899, a mark that seemed very safe until Woods began making the extraordinary routine on Thursday. Woods also tied the record for the largest 54-hole lead in any major, set by Henry Cotton at the 1934 British championship.

It was fitting that Woods was the only player still under par, because his play was in a class by itself. Woods led by six strokes after finishing his second round Saturday, the biggest 36-hole lead in Open history, surpassing the five-stroke leads of Willie Anderson in 1903 and Mike Souchak in 1960. And Woods' 134 second-round total tied the lowest 36-hole score in Open history, equaled by three others - Jack Nicklaus in 1980, Tze-Chung Chen 1985 and Janzen 1993.

Saturday afternoon Woods continued to overwhelm the field with extraordinary shot-making and putting. Would anyone catch Woods on Sunday? Not likely, as long as he remembered his way to the first tee. ``I'm going to play hard and do the same things I've been doing, which is hit the fairways,'' Woods said after he finished his second round Saturday morning. ``If I have a good situation, I'll go ahead and attack. If not, I'll dump it on the side of the green and make my par.''

Woods played true to his word, and after already winning the Masters (1997) and the PGA Championship (1999), he looked almost certain to add a U.S. Open to his collection. Nothing bothered his machine-like efficiency. Not a demanding golf course that showed little mercy on Saturday. Not a triple- bogey on No.3 Saturday afternoon that might have shaken lesser players. One concerning moment occurred when he bogeyed the 10th hole and shook his wrist after hitting a recovery shot out of deep grass. But Woods continued, appearing unhampered.

Even when he made mistakes, Woods quickly made amends. He made a triple-bogey at the par-4 No.3 when his second shot landed in thick rough near a green-side bunker. His first attempt out of the rough barely moved two feet. His next attempt floated toward the green, but fell short, still in the rough. He finally reached the green on his next chip, but the ball stopped 15 feet short of the hole. Woods two-putted for a 7, dropping him to six under par, while Jimenez was at one under par.

But that was as close as anyone came to Woods. His birdie at the par-5 No.6 was set up by a remarkable third shot. His ball was buried in a terrible lie in deep rough near a bunker, forcing Woods to put his left foot into the bunker and his right foot on the grass, with the ball well above his feet. Somehow, Woods floated a soft 70-foot shot toward the green, and as the ball came to rest 6 feet past the hole, the echoes of the gallery exploded against the Pacific Ocean.

Woods sank the ensuing putt for birdie, then birdied the par-3 No.7, hitting his tee shot to 8 feet and making still another putt. Just like that, Woods had an eight-stroke lead again. Meanwhile, the rest of the field was feeling the impact of rock- hard greens and tricky winds that sent everyone except Woods tumbling over par.

Woods went a long way toward cementing his position on Saturday morning, when he completed his second round with a six- stroke lead. Teeing off at 6:30 a.m, Woods started on the 13th hole and made it through the final six holes of his second round without any disastrous holes.

Woods' lone morning mistake came at the par-5 finishing hole, when he pulled his tee shot into the rocks bordering the ocean. Seconds after the ball left his club, Woods yelled a series of expletives, knowing his ball was headed toward oblivion. But after a penalty stroke, Woods put his next drive on the right side of the fairway, then reached the green with his next shot and two-putted for a bogey-6, avoiding what could have been a double-bogey or worse. ``I mistimed it and hit it left,'' Woods said of his errant tee shot. ``Just a really poor shot. But I stepped up there, collected my thoughts, and ripped the second one like intended the first one to be. I walked away without doing any kind of big damage to myself.'' But for the rest of the field, the damage had already been done. Where were the other prominent players who hoped to challenge Woods? Lee Westwood was five over par, Hal Sutton had a third-round 83 and fell to 12 over, Phil Mickelson was four over, David Duval was seven over, and Colin Montgomerie shot a 79 to fall to 13 over.

- New York Times News Service

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