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 a bunker on the left side of the fairway.
He was faced 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 birdie, pushing him to 4-under for the tournament.
“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. 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.”
Woods, who trails Justin Leonard by five shots, has never come from behind to win a major. He won all eight of his major titles after leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes.
He was three strokes behind at the 1998 British Open, shot 66 and finished third behind Mark O’Meara. At the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, he was two strokes back entering the final round, shot 70 and finished two strokes behind Payne Stewart in a tie for third.
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With 30-mph winds making conditions difficult, the average round of 75.878 was the highest third round in PGA Championship history.
Retief Goosen was among those baffled by the wind. After being tied for the lead at 6-under after 36 holes, the South African shot a 7-over 79 in the third round to tumble off the leaderboard.
Also struggling was Ernie Els, who shot 75 and is 2-over for the tournament.
“To play a golf course with this kind of design with wind like this is really difficult,” Els said.
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The PGA moved up the tees up 65 yards on the 16th hole, giving the players, hitting into the wind, a better chance to clear the water.
“That caught us all by surprise,” said Greg Norman.
Defending PGA champion David Toms failed to make the cut, finishing 7-over after 36 holes.
