Woods close to elusive win
Tiger Woods is three shots ahead and one round away from capping his comeback season with a moment that has defined his career. Winning.
Woods played the most dynamic golf he has all year yesterday with six birdies in his opening seven holes to build a five-shot lead.
He cooled from there with a few mistakes and had to settle for a 5-under 65 and a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose in the Tour Championship at Atlanta, Georgia.
He has the 54-hole lead for the first time since his last victory in 2013 at the Bridgestone Invitational. He has never lost an official tournament when leading by more than two shots going into the final round, and his closing record with the lead is 42-2 on the PGA Tour.
Woods has never been in better position to show he’s all the way back from four operations on his back that once made him fear he might never play again.
‘‘I’ve gone through a lot this year to get myself to this point, and understanding and fighting my way through it,’’ Woods said. ‘‘I’m much more equipped than I was in March because of what I’ve gone through.’’
Wood was at 12-under 198 and will be paired for the first time in final group with McIlroy on the PGA Tour. McIlroy birdied two of his last three holes for a 66.
‘‘It’s obviously exciting for the golf tournament. It’s exciting for golf in general that he’s up there,’’ McIlroy said.
Rose started the third round tied with Woods, but not for long.
Rose opened with two straight bogeys before battling back, but the world’s No 1 player was already four shots behind after four holes. He narrowed the gap with a birdie on the 16th as Woods had to scramble for bogey, a two-shot swing. There used to be no chance against Woods when he was atop the leaderboard going into the final round.
His only losses with the 54-hole lead were the Quad City Classic in 1996 when he was 20 and making third start as a pro, and the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine against YE Yang. He also lost a two-shot lead to Lee Westwood in Germany at European Tour event in 2000.
Now? Woods has gone more than five years without winning. He also has won enough times –
90 tournaments around the world – to remember how to do it.
‘‘It’s a little more unknown now,’’ Rose said. ‘‘Obviously, his history, his statistics from this point are impeccable. They’re incredible. But he’s human, and there’s a lot on it for him, as well as the rest of us.’’
The start was mesmerising. Woods poured in a 6 metre birdie putt on the first hole. His wedge settled 2.4m below the hole on No 3. His 6m birdie putt on No
4 tumbled into the centre of the cup with perfect pace.
Two short birdies followed. And when he finally missed a fairway at No. 7, Woods hit a
9-iron from the bunker that hopped out of the first cut to about 5 feet for a sixth birdie in seven holes.
The cheers were endless, and there was no doubting what was going on. Woods, however, made only one birdie over his last 11 holes, a wedge to 2.1m on No 12.
The only other time Woods and McIlroy were paired together in the fourth round was at the
2015 Masters, when both were 10 shots behind Jordan Spieth.
Rose likely needs to finish in the top five to be assured of winning the FedEx Cup and the
US$10 million (NZ$14.95m) bonus.
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