WOODS YOU BELIEVE!
Tiger grabs 1-stroke lead, eyes first PGA victory since 2009
Tiger takes 1-stroke lead into final round at Bay Hill
ORLANDO – Tiger Woods is back in the place he once owned, his old comfort zone, where anyone who dared to challenge him would have to take on the icy stare of intimidation and an unwavering golf game.
A 54-hole lead used to be a slam dunk for the man who dominated golf for so long. Now that he has it outright in an official PGA Tour event for the first time since 2009, we come to the biggest litmus test since he began to put it back together again.
Woods shot 1-under par 71 Saturday for a 11-under 205 total to take a one-stroke lead over Graeme Mcdowell into Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club. Woods is looking for his first PGA Tour win in over two years and his seventh career win on the King’s terrain. But he gets no breaks in going against McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champ, who erased a four-shot lead and beat Woods in a playoff when they last hooked up in the final round of the 2010 Chevron Challenge.
Mcdowell, who matched Woods with a 71 on Saturday, indicated the pressure is all on Tiger.
“There’s going to be a nice amount of expectation on him tomorrow trying to complete the comeback,” said the Northern Irishman, who is trying to bounce back from an abysmal 2011. “I know he says he’s not on a comeback; he’s been around for a long time, but you know, he’s still got to win. Still got to go win tomorrow like the rest of us have to.”
Woods just won’t admit how much this would mean after being torn apart by scandal and injury.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing and competing again. As far as what it would mean, it would mean (career win) No. 72. Not a bad number, either.”
That 71 number has been on hold since September 2009 when Woods won the BMW Championship, a couple of months before crashing his car into that fire hydrant. He’s gone through a divorce, a few more injuries and a swing change since then. He’s changed caddies and coaches and all along, people are wondering will he ever be the same?
This week, it could all be coming together. He’s been swinging it beautifully and eating up the four par-5s (10-under on them so far) just like the old days. The sore Achilles that forced him to withdraw from the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral hasn’t been a factor. He’s played a round of golf every day since a practice round at Augusta National last Sunday and is none the worse for wear.
But there is some cause for concern. He had built up a four-shot lead on Mcdowell through 13 holes on Saturday when a bogey on No. 14 and a double on the 15th brought him back to a field that includes Ernie Els (67) and Ian Poulter (68) three shots back.
Woods called the double on 15 “a fluke thing” because a woman screamed on his backswing and he drilled his tee shot out bounds. He later determined a young fan had passed out at a nearby concession stand and the woman yelled out in reaction. Woods then birdied the par-5 16th out of a fairway bunker immediately after Mcdowell tied him briefly with a birdie on the par 3 17th up ahead.
“Actually it was very simple (to bounce back), because the only bad shot I hit was there at 14,” he said. “Fifteen was just one of those fluke things, and if I take that away, I make par on a hole; rather, I had a birdie putt in my head and I’m at 13-under.”
Still, Mcdowell, whose last win was the unofficial one at the 2010 Chevron, was back within striking distance. And it’s fair to note it’s been a season so far where 54hole leads have been hard to hold.
“I’ve played with him many times, as recently as Tuesday in the Tavistock (Cup),” Mcdowell said, looking forward to the final pairing. “I feel I’ve acclimatized nicely to playing with him. Looking back to the Chevron, I managed to make a couple nice bombs on him on the last green, and it’s fun to do to Tiger what he’s done to other players and what he’s done a few times in the last round here at Bay Hill.”
For Woods, this will be the hardest one yet.