As Nicklaus was making his final, glorious exit, Woods was staking claim to the second-largest lead of his career at halftime of a major—only at the 2000 U.S. Open, where he led by six, did he take a bigger cushion into Saturday. This wouldn’t turn into a rout of even comparable proportions, but it does represent a crucial point in the evolution of the Woods/Haney experiment. “It’s nice to see him strike the ball the way I know he can,” the swing coach said. “He hasn’t shown this level to anyone else, but I’ve seen it [in practice sessions]. Every day, he wants to get better. That’s why we get along so well.”
In the Masters playoff win over Chris DiMarco, Woods played streaky golf, particularly from tee to green. Basically, he won the tournament with seven consecutive birdies in the third round—and by producing what he called his two best swings of the week in sudden death. It was almost like the guy won despite himself, which takes us to Pinehurst, where Tiger hit it wonderfully, rolled it horribly and didn’t get it done. In this camp, that amounts to a positive. “If you finish 80th in the field in putting, you shouldn’t be in contention to win the U.S. Open,” Woods said. “I was right there with a few holes to go. That’s pretty exciting to [have a chance to] win tournaments with quality ball-striking. If you putt well, you obviously win by a lot.”
That’s what you’d call a five-stroke victory at the 2005 British Open, Woods’ most balanced display of brilliance since the miracle season of 2000. Just one player, Graeme McDowell, made fewer bogeys than Tiger’s seven, and nobody made more birdies than Tiger’s 21. He didn’t have a 6 on his scorecard. And other than his aggressive play off the 10th tee—he went with his driver and caught the last pot bunker protecting the front-right pin—there was nothing during the final round one might even remotely classify as a mistake.
Something old is something new. In the winning camp, no one’s blue. “I warmed up so well,” Woods said of his final-round preparation. “One of the best warm-up sessions I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted to carry it to the golf course, and I did. My only bad shot was on 13, and I pulled it 10 feet. That was it. It was one of those rounds I’ll be thinking about for a long time.”
So might we all. At one point in the grueling post-victory process—media, more media, champagne, hysteria, media, photos—Tiger actually left behind the claret jug, the very reason he came. You might say he retrieved it in style, as if there won’t be more where that came from.
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