Triple Play

In board the U.S.S. Tiger Woods, somewhere near aba-lone corner— Just going for a dateline here that ranks with:

AUGUSTA—Jack Nicklaus, comma . . .

CARNOUSTIE—Ben Hogan, comma . . .

PHILADELPHIA—Bobby Jones, comma . . .

Maybe no better than:

PLANET EARTH—Tiger Woods, the only aircraft carrier in golf . . .

Could stop right here. After the fog set in, it made you wish they'd crown Tiger the first 36-hole U.S. Open winner since Joe Lloyd in 1897. Could have. Tiger led by six at the halfway point, by 10 after 54 and then did the Secretariat thing in the final round to win by 15.

What it was, was epic. For golf's all-time moments, put it right there in the same company with Jones finishing the Slam at Merion in 1930, Hogan's Triple Crown in 1953, Palmer's comeback at Cherry Hills in 1960 and Nicklaus winning his sixth Masters in 1986. Tiger's Open blowout was even more impressive than his 12-stroke Masters victory in 1997, because it came on a tougher course. We were wondering then if he was a bomber who had a great putting week. Now we know he's the real deal.

At 24, Tiger bagged his sixth major, putting him one step ahead of Jack at the same age. Tiger's got one U.S. Open, one Masters, one PGA and three U.S. Amateurs (you count the Amateurs after a guy wins his first pro major), versus Jack's one Open, one Masters, one PGA and two Amateurs. For those who think that Jack's record of 20 majors is unbreakable, think again. Tiger's got a game like nobody else, ever. It's all up to whether he avoids injury and stays motivated.

In Jack's defense, he had to beat the likes of Palmer, Player, Trevino, Watson, Casper, Littler and Miller.

In other words, Jack had dogfights. Tiger just has dogs.

You just don't win a U.S. Open by 15 shots. Think about that for a minute. Imagine Tiger standing on the first tee Thursday and announcing to 155 pretenders, "OK, I'm giving everybody two a side. I'm making 21 birdies this week. What do you guys have in mind?"

Turns out that giving 16 pops would have been enough to hold off everybody but Miguel Angel Jimenez, who looks like the guy who says, "Your table is ready, Mr. Woods," and Ernie Els, who's won two U.S. Opens but had to settle for a tie with Jimenez for first in the consolation flight.

Tiger finished with rounds of 65-69-71-67—the low first round, the low second round, the second-best third round and the low fourth round—for a 272 total that tied the Open record, and his 12-under-par total, another record, would have been 16 under if Pebble's second hole hadn't been converted into a par 4.

By contrast, consider what happened to some of the game's so-called top players. There was an 84 by Jim Furyk, 83s by Hal Sutton and Darren Clarke, 82s by Greg Norman and Carlos Franco, 80s by Vijay Singh, Jesper Parnevik and Bernhard Langer, and 79s by Davis Love III and Colin Montgomerie. Monty, David Duval and Phil Mickelson are still looking for their first major. Nicklaus, playing in what could be his last U.S. Open, missed the cut at 73-82 but was still Low Immortal, and Bobby Clampett of CBS was Low Announcer at 14 over after opening with a 68.

It took some players all day to shoot an 83. John Daly did it in about 15 minutes when he made a 14 at 18 to finish his first—and only—round. It made Tiger's triple bogey at the third on Saturday look like Sarazen's double eagle.

People were saying the tournament was over after Tiger's opening 65, even before much of the field had a chance to stick a tee in the ground. Then the fog rolled in and delayed everything. Of course, it's not so bad to be trapped in the elegantly rustic area of Pebble Beach and Carmel for what first looked as if it might be a month. This is the quaint area where the banks look like ski chalets, the restaurants look like boutiques, the homes look like clubhouses, and the people all look like Poopoo and KiKi stepping out of their suede Cadillac.