Despite solid play, realization sets in for contenders
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
Buick Invitational: Round 4 Tee Times | Round 3 Notebook
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Boo Weekley was ready to try anything Saturday evening. "Maybe tying my shoes backwards or something," he said.
Better yet, maybe Tiger Woods should have to play Torrey Pines with a 2-iron during the final round of the Buick Invitational. Maybe then Weekley and the rest can catch the streaking Woods, who leads his closest competitor by eight strokes.
"We're playing for the consolation prize right now," Weekley said in his sweet-as-syrup Southern drawl.
Indeed. Making a statement in his 2008 debut, Woods fired a 66 in the third round to move into a commanding lead at 18 under as he stalks a fourth straight win at Torrey Pines and a 62nd career victory that would tie him with Arnold Palmer.
Not that anyone should be surprised, of course.
"Just because he ain't been out here playing don't mean he ain't been working, you know what I mean?" Weekley said. "He's worked hard on his game, and that's why he's No. 1. He's just got to go out and play golf."
And Woods does that so well. He has played 42 rounds at Torrey Pines and shot over par just once. His eight-stroke advantage over Stewart Cink marks the eighth time he's entered the final round of a tournament with a six-stroke lead or better.
"It was frustrating," Cink admitted. "I played pretty solidly, but it takes more than just playing solid to catch up to Tiger Woods. He played phenomenally. The scary part is if you ask him, he probably would say that he played somewhat conservatively.
"But he put six birdies and no bogeys on us, and we were just trying to catch up. All day, you know, you start behind him and he plays pretty much mistake-free, and then at the end of the day, here we are."
At the same time, Cink says he enjoys playing with Woods, who he calls "the best player the game has ever seen, as far as I'm concerned."
Cink is most impressed by Woods' even-keel demeanor whether he's got a big lead or on the rare occasion he's coming from behind.
"It's the same Tiger Woods," reported Cink, who capped his round of 69 Saturday with a 38-foot eagle on the final hole. "To me that's very impressive because it's a difficult thing to do. He makes it looks easy but it's not easy."
Asked what Woods is doing better now than he was several years ago -- if that's even possible -- Cink didn't hesitate. Woods is finding more fairways, he said, and the game's No. 1 player still has that uncanny knack to can the momentum-saving putt like he did on the 12th hole.
"He's just hard to beat right now," Cink said. "He's got everything firing really well, and when he does come close to making a bogey, he makes a 20-footer for par. It's easy to get demoralized, but I just have to keep on plugging and stay focused on what I can do.
"Like I told my caddie out there, we can't control what Tiger does. He's going to do his dramatics and be really consistent. He's just firing on all cylinders. He seems in control. He doesn't seem to be fearful of any missed shots. There's a lot of places you can stumble out there."
The way Joe Durant sees it, he has to concentrate on his own game. The 67 he shot Saturday that left him in the final pairing with Woods and Cink was his best-ever at Torrey Pines and marked only the fifth time in 23 rounds there he'd broken 70.
"Well, what can you say?" Durant said. "He plays great here. The course obviously sets up great for him, and we're trying, but the guy is unbelievable. He's playing fantastic. Nothing else can be said. ...
"It's not discouraging for me because that's probably my best round ever over there. You almost can't even try you can't even compare yourself to that, really. I've just got to go out and play my game day after day, and that's what I did today."
Coming from eight strokes off the pace, or nine as in the spot Durant finds himself, is no easy task, regardless of who is ahead -- and whether he is fully armed or just sporting a 2-iron like Weekley suggested.
It's been done -- Paul Lawrie made up 10 strokes at the 1999 British Open and Cink was nine strokes behind when he won the 2004 MCI Heritage. We're talking longest of long shots, though.
"Whoever that person is would have to go out and really get off to a poor start," Durant said. "And someone would have to put pressure on him pretty early in the round, make a few birdies right out of the gate to make him think that something could happen, especially on a golf course like this where the fairways are pretty generous and the rough is not that thick and the greens are soft.
"It would be difficult to catch someone like that."
Especially if his name is Tiger Woods.
"He's by far the best the PGA TOUR has got right now," Weekley said. "He's just good. It's amazing. It really is."
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