SAN MARTIN, Calif. — A fan was arrested for running toward the seventh green at CordeValle and tossing a hot dog in Tiger Woods’ direction yesterday during the final round Fryscom. Open.
The bun barely reached the green. The hot dog landed on the putting surface.
The 31-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, dropped to the ground to be arrested as Santa Clara sheriff’s deputies converged on him. Woods backed off his birdie putt, then quickly resumed play.
Even as he returned last year from a sex scandal, and the occasional fan would should heckle him, Woods never had a fan duck under the ropes and approach him.
“Some guy just came running on the green, and he had a hot dog, and evidently . . . I don’t know how he tried to throw it, but I was kind of focusing on my putt when he started yelling,” said Woods, who didn’t seem bothered by it all.
“Next thing I know, he laid on the ground, and looked like he wanted to be arrested because he . . . put his hands behind his back and turned his head.”
Sgt. Jose Cardoza said the man was arrested for disturbing the peace and removed from the property. Because it was a misdemeanor, Cardoza said the man would not be taken to jail and his name not disclosed. Cardoza said only that he was from Santa Rosa.
“He was very cooperative,” Cardoza said. “They said, ‘Why did you do this?’ He just shook his head in guilt or remorse. He didn’t give a reason why he did it.”
Cardoza said the man claims he wasn’t throwing the hot dog at Woods, rather tossing it in the air. He said the man acknowledged having a drink earlier in the day, that the man was not drunk.
Arjun Atwal, who played with Woods, said he was concerned for a moment at the sight of a fan yelling out Woods’ name and approaching the green.
“They could have shot him,” Atwal said. “The cops could have thought it was something else.”
It was high drama, albeit briefly, in an otherwise solid round of 3-under 68 for Woods. In his first tournament in seven weeks, he finished with three straight rounds of 68 to tie for 30th, 10 shots behind eventual winner Bryce Molder, at 7-under 277.
It was the first time Woods had three straight rounds in the 60s on the PGA Tour since the Deutsche Bank Championship last year.
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Molder won the longest playoff of the year, going six holes to outlast Briny Baird for his first PGA Tour victory.
Molder made a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole — the fourth time he had to play the closing hole at Cordevalle in 90 minutes.
It was the 17th playoff this year on the PGA Tour, setting a record dating to the modern era that began in 1970.
Baird looked like a winner when he chipped in from short of the 17th green for eagle in regulation to take a one-shot lead. In the group ahead of him, Molder rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to close with a 7-under 64, which got him into the playoff.
Baird, who now is 0-for-348 in his 12 years trying to win on tour, shot a 4-under 67. He twice had birdie putts on the 18th in the playoff to win, missing from 8 feet and 12 feet. Molder had three chances to win with eagle putts on the 284-yard 17th, missing from 20 feet, 15 feet and 12 feet, all from about the same line.
Bud Cauley, the 21-year-old who turned pro this summer, shot 66 and finished third to earn $340,000.
