Awful start means Woods will need a miracle finish
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Tiger Woods knows this as well as anyone: To get anywhere near the leader board at Pebble
Beach, early birdies are essential.
Woods made more bogeys (three) than birdies (two) over the critical opening seven holes Saturday, and instead of revving up for another magical run at the majors, he was talking about missed opportunities and the now-fantastical hope of winning his fourth U.S. Open.
“I got off to an awful start, and clawed it around, but still gave myself a chance for tomorrow,” he said after a round of even-par 71 left him even for the tournament and 11 shots off the lead as he headed off the course.
But even for Woods — who annihilated Pebble Beach 19 years ago in a record-setting U.S. Open victory and fashioned one of the most scintillating comebacks in sports when he won major No. 15 at the Masters this year — the thought of winning this weekend has been relegated to the miracle category.
It was a long shot, but still thinkable, when he took the course just before noon on yet another cloudy, calm day on the Monterey Peninsula. But it started coming unraveled on the very first shot. Woods took an iron and drew it into the left rough to set up bogey on a hole that plays sixth easiest.
His chance at building momentum after a 24-foot birdie putt on No. 5 came to a halt when he needed three to get down from 60 feet on the par-5 sixth, settling for par. Moments later, he had a 3-footer lip out on the 98-yard seventh and made bogey.
“Seems like everyone is doing what I was supposed to do earlier, which is play 2- to 4-under
par through the first seven,” Woods said.
Three other stars stuck in neutral
Dustin Johnson was stuck in place. Rory McIlroy barely budged. Jordan Spieth went backward.
For three players with seven major titles between them, Moving Day at the U.S. Open came and went with barely a ripple — sidetracked by balky putters that couldn’t bail them out of errors they made from the fairways.
Spieth shot 2-over 73 and fell to 1 over for the tournament, 12 back of leader Gary Woodland. Johnson shot even to stay at 2 under. McIlory opened the day in a tie for fourth but shot 70 to fall to sixth, five shots off the lead.
Unhappy birthday looms for Mickelson
Phil Mickelson looks like he won’t be able to celebrate his 49th birthday by completing the career grand slam. Needing to post a low score in the third round at Pebble Beach to get into contention Saturday, Mickelson failed to drain birdie putts early and self-destructed late to finish with a 4-over 75 and another disappointing U.S. Open.
“Today was the day I needed to go low,” Mickelson said. “I played well enough to do it. I had many opportunities. Didn’t putt well. Didn’t get them to go in. I left them short the whole time. And then I finished poorly.”
Mickelson, who turns 49 on Sunday, heads into the final round at 3-over 216 and far behind the leaders as he is running out of chances to add the final piece of the career grand slam to his impressive career.
Race for low amateur has three contenders
Brandon Wu, Viktor Hovland and Chandler Eaton were within four shots of each other after the third round at Pebble Beach. Wu leads the group after shooting an even-par 71 Saturday to remain at 2-under 211.