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Woods building momentum toward masters
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-07 08:53
Some of his victories have been handed to him when his opponents blinked
first. John Daly had a 15-foot birdie putt to win the American Express
Championship last October, and three-putted to lose the playoff. Then came the
mistakes of Olazabal in the Buick Invitational, and Els in Dubai.
Toms contributed to the cause by three-putting from 60 feet, a tough putt
under any circumstance. That allowed Woods to aim away from the water and into a
bunker, taking bogey to win by one shot.
But the wins keep piling up, and the mystique is slowly returning.
"You just kind of hope you catch him on an off-week somewhere," Rich Beem
said Friday, when he went into the third round one shot out of a four-way tie
for the lead that included Woods. "You're not going to beat him. He's like a
heavyweight fighter."
Phil Mickelson felt it Saturday.
A year after engaging it a fantastic duel with Woods at Doral, they were in
the final pairing Saturday. Neither paid much attention to it because it was
only the third round, and because so many players were capable of making a move.
But the look on Lefty's face spoke volumes when his 4-iron around the trees on
the 18th hole — Woods called it the best shot he had seen that day — spun off
the green into the water.
Mickelson said after the third round that he wasn't concerned about the
pairing, then quickly added, "I should be now. I'm four back."
"He's a tough guy to overcome when he's got the lead," Mickelson said Sunday
after putting two balls in the water on consecutive holes and shooting 73.
Woods not only is 34-3 when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead, no
one has ever beaten him when starting the final round more than two shots
behind.
And while his bogey-bogey finish was sloppy, it wasn't the only time. Along
with his bogey-bogey finish in regulation at the Masters last year, he bogeyed
two of the last three holes in the 2002 U.S. Open to win by three shots, and he
had to two-putt for bogey from 60 feet on the last hole at Firestone to win by
one over Mickelson in 1999.
Asked how his victory at Doral will stand out among his other 47 tour
victories, Woods talked about various shots he had worked on with Haney.
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