Woods on prowl leaves no room for error
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- He blasts his tee shots farther and straighter than any other player, knocks iron shots closer to the flag, and seemingly makes every big putt he has to make.
And then there are those miracles from nowhere that go in, too.
You have no trouble figuring out how Tiger Woods might get into the heads of those trying their damndest to knock him from a seemingly indestructible perch.
After having broken 70 at the Stadium course just once in four previous Players Championship appearances, Woods did so in each of the final three rounds this year, going 14-under to claim a one-shot victory over Vijay Singh on Monday.
But it was the way he did it.
Like the 220-yard 4-iron he hit to within a few feet of the 11th hole on Saturday for an eagle; or the winding, twisting 60-foot birdie putt that dropped into the cup for a birdie at the 17th during the third round; or the 90-foot eagle chip shot on No. 2 during the final round.
"I was talking to Hal (Sutton) about it. It's crazy that he would get up there and chip in on No. 2," said Paul Azinger, who was just a shot out of the lead heading into the weekend before finishing tied for seventh. "That's what makes the guy that good. It's super-human, some of that stuff.
"The hole's only so big. We've all chipped in, we've all made shots of that length ... It's just weird. It's super-human. I don't know what else to say."
Throw in the kick-in birdie at the 10th hole Monday morning, the teetering shot at the par-3 17th that stayed dry by inches, and you have a man who is tough to beat when he makes as many putts as Woods did during the $6 million tournament.
Woods might not be intimidating his opponents the way he did a year ago, but he still packs a powerful punch. Players know they better show up and do some spectacular stuff. Woods will not be overcome with ordinary play.
"You know, you have to play. You are not going to get through this thing with pars," said Jerry Kelly, the longtime pro from Wisconsin who had the unenviable task of trying to win his first PGA Tour event while paired with the game's greatest player. "You are not going to be able to just hit it on the green and two-putt. That's why my putter probably got a little jabby. I was not just stroking it where I wanted. I was trying to make the putt; you can't do that. You have to putt your ball."
As much as Kelly had hoped to play his own game, ignore Woods, it's too much to ask. Sort of like saying the $1,060,000 first prize didn't matter to someone had made half of that all of last year. As Kelly said the other day, being paired with Woods is like playing in the middle of a freeway.
"I enjoyed watching how steady he was, even when he made a poor shot," said Kelly, who finished fourth, four shots back. "He steadied himself on the putts and made good strokes. That's probably the difference between us -- besides the 40 yards."
Singh, of course, is far more accomplished. He's the only player to capture a major championship over the past 18 months other than Woods. He's also got the kind of length off the tee to hang with Woods.
And Singh came into The Players Championship hotter than Woods, having won twice in Asia and finishing among the top-four in his past three PGA Tour events. When the rain-delayed final round resumed Monday morning, he immediately applied the heat, making birdies at the 11th and 13th holes to stay a shot behind Woods.
Then it happened. Singh hit the dreaded double-cross. Trying to hit a fade, he pull-hooked his drive at the 14th hole into the water. He made a triple-bogey to seemingly fall out of contention. He rallied with an eagle and a birdie down the stretch, but fell a shot short. Woods made two double-bogeys during the tournament, but overcame them. Singh could not overcome a triple.
Perhaps he was thinking he had to keep applying the pressure. Perhaps he kept pushing too hard. That's the kind of mental pressure that Woods applies.
"One bad swing," Singh said. "And that's all it takes when you are playing the final round of a tournament this big. You cannot make mistakes like that."
Especially against Woods.
Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.
