|
AKRON, Ohio -- On Friday, it was a ball that caromed off the cart path
and sailed over the two-story clubhouse at Firestone Country Club.
On Saturday during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods found a different way to making life interesting. The man
who has won the last two major championships made four bogeys in a row.
It’s hard to say which turn of events was more stunning.
The last time Woods made four consecutive bogeys was during the second
round of the 1996 TOUR Championship. He was 20 at the time, playing in
just his eighth PGA TOUR event as a pro and he even threw in a double
bogey at the start.
Woods called Saturday simply “one of those bad days at the wrong time.”
He led by two when the streak began but ended the day one stroke behind Stewart Cink after gutting out a 1-over 71 -- just his fifth round
above par in his last 31 at Firestone.
“I was a little surprised because it’s Tiger Woods and the way he’s been playing lately,” Cink said. “But
the way the course is, anybody, even the great Tiger Woods, can make some bogeys out there.
“It’s just with him, it’s only a matter of time before he gets back on
the birdie streak, I’m sure. He is a human being, and he’s going to make
mistakes, just like everybody else. It’s just when he’s playing his
best, he seems to make fewer of them.”
Woods is tied with Paul Casey, who, like
Cink, shot 64 on Saturday, and Davis Love III. Love played with Woods and appeared poised to take advantage of the rare
collapse -- making birdies on Nos. 8-10 only to give them back on the
homeward nine.
“You just expect he’s going to play well,” Love, who shot 70 Saturday,
said. “When he made four bogeys in a row, I said, you know, I’ve never
seen him do that. But I’ve seen him make four birdies in a row, and I
knew it was going to come eventually.
“Even though he had to do it scrambling around, he hung in there real
well. Just the way we’re playing, you can’t help by make some birdies
and you can’t help but make some bogeys. Both of us have to be a little
bit more consistent tomorrow.”
Woods said he never felt really comfortable Saturday. The defending
champion missed fairways, seven to be exact, and 11 greens. He didn’t
have the speed with his putter, and while he holed two chips for
birdies, he didn’t have his normal touch around the greens.
“I really shouldn’t be one back,” Woods said. “I didn’t hit the ball
very good, and as I said, I didn’t control it, My speed was off early on
the greens. … It’s a huge positive to be only one back, as poorly as I
played today. “
The surprising skid started at the par-3 fifth hole. Woods was 10 under
at the time and leading Love by two strokes. His tee shot landed on the
back fringe, his chip caught the crest of the hill and went 8 feet past
the hole and he two-putted from there for bogey.
|
