PGA NOTES
CHASKA, Minn. – Add this to the collection of memorable shots by Tiger Woods. When play resumed in the second round of the 84th PGA Championship yesterday morning, Woods drove his tee shot on the 18th hole into the left bunker.
He was left with an awkward stance and a downhill, sidehill lie. The pin was 211 yards away, with a tree to clear. Woods opened the face of a 3-iron, steadied himself and hit a terrific shot that stopped about 12 feet from the hole.
He buried the putt for a birdie, pushing him to 4-under for the tournament. He began the third round two shots off the lead shared by five players, including Fred Funk.
“It’s one of the greatest all-time shots I’ve ever hit,” Woods said. “I was looking at a bogey and I turned it into a 3. It was a good shot.
“The only thing that I had to make sure was to not hit it right with the wind coming hard off the left like that,” he added. “If I would have lost it, I could have actually hit it over the grandstand. I just tried to make sure I kept it level and hit it solid. It was a pretty good shot.”
Good? Playing partner Ernie Els, walking alongside Woods, turned to Woods and said, “Unbelievable.”
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Yesterday’s play was scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., but was held up two hours because the saturated course wasn’t ready. That pushed back the start of the third round to 12:30 p.m., with play starting off both the No. 1 and 10 tees in order to get the round in. The players played in threesomes as they did in the first two rounds.
As Woods, Els and defending champion David Toms resumed their second round on No. 17 in the morning, fire hoses crossed the fairway to pump water off the drenched course.
Conditions are expected to be good for today’s final round.
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Mark Calcavecchia won his only major at the 1989 British Open, but don’t expect him to be play cautiously as he contends for the 84th PGA Championship.
“I’m emotional. I’m aggressive,” he said. “When I’m swinging good, I just go right at it, which works on a lot of occasions when the ball is going in the direction I want it go.”
