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Woods fires 68, 1 shot behind Appleby at US Open
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-14 15:22 Phil Mickelson had trouble keeping his 3-wood in the fairway, made six bogeys and shot 75 to fall seven shots behind. Everything changed so quickly. Woods winced and slumped his shoulders when his tee shot found the bunker on the par-3 16th, leading to bogey. Then came another shot into the greenside bunker on the 17th, and another bogey. And his tee shot on the 18th, where the tees were moved forward, landed in the bunker and made him settle for par. That put him 3 over for the tournament at the turn, six shots behind. "I feel like I lost three shots there, because I bogeyed 16, 17 and then I don't make a birdie on 18," Woods said. "I said, 'If I clean up the back nine, I should be able to get back to even par for the tournament. And I ended up two better than that." He had four other good looks for birdie on his back nine, but no complaints. "I shot 30 on my back nine in a U.S. Open," Woods said. "That's not too bad." Better than that. It was just one stroke more than the U.S. Open record for nine holes, last done by Vijay Singh in 2003. Appleby, Mediate and Karlsson were jostling for the lead throughout the afternoon, and Appleby finally grabbed it on his final hole. That also ended the tournament for 11 players who were more than 10 shots out of the lead, the cut falling to 7-over. Woods was on the opposite side of the course, and despite the famous "June Gloom" layer of fog that blanketed Torrey Pines, he was easy to find. A high-charged gallery, crammed in the bleachers and behind the ropes, rose to their feet with every birdie. He finished his round with a fairway metal that hung in the gray skies and landed on the green at the par-5 ninth, running just over the back. Woods chipped to 6 feet and made the birdie, just moments after Appleby had made his on the 18th. "I was just hanging around, hanging around," Woods said. "This golf course will bite you quick. You've just got to hang in there and stay patient." Woods almost always bites back at Torrey Pines, where he has won the Buick Invitational a record six times. This one is far more meaningful, and his late charge left him in great position to chase a U.S. Open title that has eluded him since 2002 at Bethpage Black, the last time it was held on a municipal golf course. Mickelson, a San Diego native and three-time winner at Torrey Pines, could not keep up in the featured pairing with Woods. He again played without a driver in the bag, and this time it might have hurt him. Lefty could not reach the par-5 13th, where Woods got home in two and made eagle, and he was 30 yards behind Woods on the sixth hole, putting his approach on the tongue of a bunker that led to one of his six bogeys. |
