LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Sunday at the 108th U.S. Open was opposite day for Tiger Woods. Clearly, it was in sharp contrast to all the drama of Saturday. But it was most opposite from his trademark closeout Sundays.

Woods began Sunday with a one-stroke lead. Everyone knows when Woods is in the lead at a major after 54 holes, it's lights out. He's been in that position 13 times, and won 13 times.

In such situations under championship conditions, Woods goes into a mistake-free zone. He puts the ball in the fairway. He hits it in the middle of the greens. He leaves himself tap-in par putts. When he misses a shot, it's not on the "short" side. In short, he doesn't beat himself. He makes the field come and get him. Nobody ever does.

But this Sunday, Woods made mistakes. He missed fairways. He missed greens. He short-sided himself. He left himself tough par putts. And he came back to the field.

It started on the first hole. After a practice session in which he swung in rhythm, never showed pain, and never really missed a shot, Woods stepped to the first tee and hit a horrible double-cross pull into trampled-down rough. Then the rough snagged his iron and sent his second shot further left. Then he hit a tree with his third, the ball remaining in the rough. When he holed out for a six, it was his third double bogey on the 448-yard first hole in four days. It was also perhaps the worst hole Tiger Woods has ever played in a U.S. Open in which he was in contention.

The lead gone, Woods blocked his drive on the second into the rough. He had to chop out to the front of the green, 50 feet from the pin. He left himself a six-footer for par that even so early in the round seemed a must make. He missed. Now he trailed by two.

Woods stabilized, but the knee pain seemed to be clouding his focus, perhaps his judgment and ultimately his confidence. When he stepped onto the back tee of the 614-yard 13th, he had fought his way back into the lead. It was time to take over. On cue, Woods hit a good drive that left him 270 yards to the front of the green on a hole he had eagled twice in the previous three rounds. There was one place he could not miss--well left of the green into ice plant designated as a lateral hazard. Shockingly, that's where Woods--with the same kind of double-cross he committed on the first hole--hit his ball. It's a shot that will go into the Woods Opposite Hall of Fame.

The shot was so traumatizing that on the 267-yard 14th, a glorified par 3 when the forward tee is used like it was Sunday, Woods, now trailing by one, LAID UP with a 7-iron. His reason: a "terrible number," contending that a 3-wood was too much and a 5-wood too little. What was really going on was the residual shock of the previous 3-wood made Woods scared to gear down the club. A mediocre pitch led to a desultory par.   

Then on the 478-yard par-4 15th, Woods made yet another miscue by blocking his drive into a scruffy lie in the rough, then compounded the problem by trying to hit a risky 7-iron 180 yards over a tree. He didn't get clean contact, lost the shot to the right, short-siding himself in the rough and made saving par too difficult. Another bogey, and from the verge of having his 14th major championship nailed shut, Woods was a stroke behind.

Fortunately for Woods, Rocco Mediate couldn't add a clinching birdie on the par-5 18th. But when Woods reached the 18th needing a 4 to get into a playoff, the opposite theme continued. Needing a drive in the fairway more than at any time in the championship, Woods pulled an attempted fade into the fairway bunker. His recovery was shockingly sloppy, sliding into the right rough instead of the much desired short grass. Woods had held his patience admirably to this point, but he was so appalled at his sand shot that he threw his club down into the sand, picked it up and whacked his bag so hard three balls fell out.

Surely his error-strewn day was finally over, but fittingly, Woods again went the other way. From a hairy lie 101 yards from the hole, Woods dug out a 60-degree wedge that somehow landed and sucked back to 10 feet. Done with opposites, Woods went back into major championship-winning mode. He made the putt.

--Jaime Diaz

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Tiger Woods tried hard to turn his three-under-par 68 at Torrey Pines on Friday--which included a 30 on his second nine--into nothing special.

The phrases were right out of the buzz kill handbook: "I didn't do anything. I actually just kept patient. It was a big-time grind out there. It was nice."

But in the present, when it was happening, it was breathtaking. A supremely focused Woods unleashed free and flawless swings, making the specter of his recuperation from knee surgery--hard to ignore as he shortened the stride of his left leg walking to his ball--disappear as he sent out a string of majestic shots.

He also improved on what is turning into an exceptional week on the greens by curling in several perfectly calibrated putts. Through sheer brilliance--and by pulling himself to within one shot of Stuart Appleby's 36-hole lead of three-under 138--Woods took over a U.S. Open center stage framed by immense galleries amid a backdrop of deep green California foliage and a deep blue Pacific Ocean. Despite the limp, it evoked his 2000 victory march at Pebble Beach.

When Woods reached full flight in the late afternoon with birdies on the first, second, fourth, fifth and ninth holes, it was a reminder of how much golf has missed him in the last two months. On the other hand, Woods was right. The round was a testament to patience. Without it, his first nine holes would have been the beginning of a slide out of the championship.

Woods began the day with a three-putt for bogey from 50 feet on the 10th. It was his second straight three-putt counting the 18th on Thursday, and it seemed that the only reason steam wasn't visible from his ears was due to the heavy mist of the coastal marine layer.

He also bogeyed the long, par-4 12th. An explosive eagle on the par-5 13th, where Woods negotiated the 599 yards with a 335-yard drive and a 266-yard 5-wood to 10 feet, seemed to right the ship, but Woods followed with bogeys on the 16th, 17th and a par on the par-5 18th, where he drove into a fairway bunker. "I feel like I lost three shots there," he said. "The tees were way up on 18."

But throughout the frustrating stretch, which saw him drop to three over par for the tournament, Woods kept a cool equanimity. It could have been taken as resignation. Perhaps the knee was hurting, or worse, malfunctioning. Perhaps he had accepted that he simply wasn't competitively ready after eight weeks off. But really, Woods was practicing a champion's mindset. "Patience" may be the hoariest of post-round interview words, but like "one shot at a time," only the very best can truly execute the concept.

And when you have as much game as Woods, patience is the most important virtue. Because when the good stuff comes, it is so worth waiting for.

As for the knee, Woods not surprisingly kept up his evasive ways. "People want to know," he allowed. "People are curious. And all I can tell you is that it's sore. It is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less." In other words, nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

The strongest reaction Woods had to any question was about his reaction to the Lakers' collapse against the Celtics on Thursday night. "Oh, man, that was a tough night," said a genuinely anguished Woods. "Man, that was a tough night."

But when asked if was in the zone on his second nine, Woods went right back to his safe island of understatement. "It just feels it's a nice rhythm," he said. "Been there before . . . shot some good rounds doing that."

Pay no attention. What Woods did Friday was a shout out that he is everything he used to be. And by Sunday--if he can capture his 14th major championship--he will be even more.

--Jaime Diaz

Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz has been covering golf since 1984. We asked him for his take on the 72nd Masters.

How could Trevor Immelman win the Masters?
Jaime Diaz: I read where the oddsmakers pre-tournament had Immelman at 60 to 1 to win. I?d say there were probably 25 guys in the field I would have picked before Immelman, mostly because he has never shown the kind of putting touch that is thought to be required at Augusta. Immelman putted solidly this week, but mostly he won by being the best driver and iron player in the field and not missing too many six-footers. It was a virtuoso ball-striking performance by the young man Gary Player says has the closest thing to Ben Hogan?s swing that he has ever seen.

Does this end talk of a Grand Slam in 2008?
Although Immelman won the U.S. Public Links at Torrey Pines and he proved he can win a major at the Masters, Slam talk is dead, and should be. Now, if Immelman wins at Torrey Pines, that?s different.

Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman have won the past two Masters. Is that good or bad for golf?
Every winner brings their own attractive qualities to golf history, so in my opinion, they are all good for golf. In Johnson?s case, it was inspiring to see a player whose stature and style seemed to make it impossible to win at the new, bulked-up Augusta. Instead, he showed how superb wedge play, clutch putting and poise can be the great equalizer on any course. Immelman?s victory showcases one of the great swings the modern game has ever seen, and unleashes the kind of potential that can make him an important challenger to Tiger. Though a Tiger victory in a major is always good for golf because of the attention it garners and the history it makes, the game also needs the most talented young players  to mentally break through so they are comfortable at the very top rank in the Tiger Era. Immelman is one of those players.

That makes three consecutive Masters that Tiger hasn't won. Why can't he win here anymore?
It?s a facetious question, but the fact is that the new Augusta allows more styles to be competitive than the old Augusta, where power was a bigger advantage. Tiger will remain the prohibitive Masters favorite, but his game will have to be at least at a B-plus level for him to win. This year, his A-minus ball-striking was undermined by C-minus putting and wedge play. The point is, as good as he is, the new Augusta, more than the old one, requires that he play well by his own standard to win.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Andres Romero is golf's new blithe spirit.

Many have held the title: John Daly after gripping and ripping Crooked Stick. Sergio Garcia after the scissor kick at Medinah. Jesper Parnevik, especially after a volcanic-ash colonic. But no one ever holds on to it for very long. The accumulated cruelties of the game and the jadedness that comes with the decadence of modern professional golf tend to end innocence sooner rather than later.

Romero, though, might have a long reign. That he was able to smile after the crazy bounce that took his ball out-of-bounds on the 71st hole of the British Open last year at Carnoustie, spoiling a magical round in which his 10 birdies in the previous 16 holes had given him the lead, showed a special resilience and optimism.

And so it was on Saturday after the 26-year-old from Tucuman, Argentina, missed a five-footer for birdie on the 18th after a killing double bogey on the par-3 16th. That one, which started with a pushed 7-iron into the death bunker for a right-hand pin, ended a stunning streak of four birdies in five holes that had tied Romero with playing partner Tiger Woods.

Finishing at two under for 36 holes, Romero had plenty of reason to be morose coming off the final green. Instead, he sported the same smile he wore at Carnoustie.

"There's nothing to be upset about," he said in Spanish, stopping under the big oak tree before entering the locker room. "My life is very good. If I play well, or if I don't, there is so much money. But I've always been like this."

As Mark Lawrie, executive director of the Argentine Golf Association puts it, "I don't think Pigu [Romero's nickname] will ever need a sport psychologist."

Romero, the winner at New Orleans two weeks ago and a former caddie, came to his first Masters eager to soak up knowledge. Asked if he was intimidated playing with Mickelson in the first two rounds and Woods in the third, Romero said, "No, I was excited because I knew I would learn." He added, "I was most impressed by Tiger. There are no flaws in his game. When I play with him, I watch everything he does."

Romero is only 5-feet-10 and generously listed at 165 pounds, but his thickly muscled arms could belong to a man 40 pounds heavier. Before turning pro at age 16, the sixth of eight children of a handyman was also a whiz on a unicycle. "Maybe it's all the carne asada," he joked. "I've always been strong. My parents are strong."

On Saturday, Romero outdrove Woods on several occasions, just as he had when the two were paired last year at Firestone. Because of the language barrier and Woods' major mode, there was minimal conversation between the two, but after the round, Woods signed Romero's hat. "Tiger likes him," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent. "He respects talent, and the kid is good."

For his part, Romero did not rule out a Carnoustie-like Sunday round. "I'm going to go out tomorrow the same way I did today--aggressively. For everything."

--Jaime Diaz

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There are times when you must be embarrassingly wrong. For a golf writer, it's the journalism gods' way of keeping you honest.

The night before the first round, I was riding in a car with, among others, Marty Hackel, Golf Digest's Fashion Director, when the name Ian Poulter came up. The man also known as Mr. Style admires Poulter for his clothing line, love of the limelight and solid game, in that order.

Personally, I have always thought of Poulter as a bit of a cartoon, and said so. To me, he's never been good enough to back up the garish clothes he wears, or doesn't wear (see his recent Golf World UK photo spread), or the words that pop out of his mouth, most notably, "I know I haven't played to my full potential, and when that happens, it will be just me and Tiger."

My perception was that Poulter was no better than 40-something on golf's official World Ranking, yippy with the putter, a fringe qualifier for the Masters.

Marty was sure he was no worse than 30th, and probably much lower. When we got to our rented home we looked it up. Poulter, to my amazement was 24th in the world. Let me just say that it's tough watching a guy who wears a lot of pink denim jumping around trash-talking at your expense.

Of course, it only got worse on Thursday morning, when Poulter rode a hole-in-one on the 16th to a 70 and the early lead. When Mr. Style walked by, he gave me the business again.

I decided to escape by going to Poulter's post-round interview, where I ended up gaining a new and improved perspective. I gave more weight to the fact that the 32-year-old Englishman comes from the tough London suburb of Hitchin, where he tried to make up for his late start in the game by taking his clubs with him to secondary school so he could practice during noon break. That in his early 20s he was relegated to a dismal pro-shop job just to stay in the game, and used to get his supply of golf balls in exchange for driving a journeyman European pro to the airport.

It was the period of Woods' explosion onto professional golf, which Poulter said "gave me a massive buzz to go out and start practicing harder and harder and harder." The more Poulter spoke about Woods, the more it became clear that he wasn't saying he was ready to beat Tiger, but rather that he believed he could be the best of the rest.

In this context, I found his brashness, rather than off-putting, a gutty product of an  environment that probably offered very little encouragement. Woods, too, seems to understand. "He keeps calling me No. 2," deadpanned Poulter, "which is nice."

So I've eaten my crow. Which for golf writer, is healthy.

--Jaime Diaz

Maybe the best thing about the Masters Par-3 Tournament is how much you can really see. Unlike the big event, the extremely friendly confines let you get close to the players as they hit, see the entire flight of the ball and have a great look at the putts on the tiny greens.

Some of the mystique will be lost now that the event is televised by ESPN, but the greater good is being served.

Overall, the byword is ease. With throngs sitting on the green slopes bordered by several lakes, the event feels more like an outdoor jazz festival, or maybe a picnic in heaven. Everything seems to happen in an easy rhythm, from the way the players swing so wonderfully within themselves, to their slow saunter down the fairway (all the better to keep in step with the small offspring that often are recruited as caddies), to the lack of grinding over putts. Ben Crenshaw, his 10-year-old Anna Reilly on the bag, had to ask spectators for a coin on the first green to mark his ball. Boo Weekley used an orange tee as a marker. Bernhard Langer asked the gallery if a two-incher was good on the second, and receiving an assent, picked it up, (thus eliminating any worry that he might tempt "The Curse", in which no winner of the Par 3 has ever won the actual tournament.)

The highlight was seeing Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player playing together one more time. They were loose on the first tee, but their competitiveness is unavoidable. Palmer's opening shot won the closest-to-the-hole on the 130-yard first hole, 22 and a half inches. Nicklaus held the closest on the 70-yard second, seven inches, until Paul Azinger aced it.

Player, who Thursday will break Palmer's record of 50 straight Masters appearances, was buoyed by the results of his annual physical at the Mayo Clinic. "My dad was proud," said his eldest son, Marc. "He called me and said, "Did you see my results? The doctors say I'm a perfect specimen of a man."

On the ninth, the green framed by huge amphitheater, the Big Three stepped into a time machine. Palmer started things with a shot to 10 feet, Player followed with a better one to six, and Nicklaus provided the crescendo with a spinner that finished inside two feet. Some things are ageless.

--Jaime Diaz

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It's rare when Tiger Woods reveals much in a press conference, and especially at a major championship, where his always concise answers get even shorter. So it was during his session with a room full of media on Tuesday at Augusta, except on one subject.

On several occasions, Woods almost went out of his way to mention his late father. It's become quite noticeable that the older Tiger gets, the more he talks about the lessons he learned from Earl Woods.

There were two notable examples. When Woods was asked if the outsized expectation many have for him to win the Grand Slam bothers him, he answered, "No actually, it doesn't, because I play for myself and my family. That's it. That's what my father's always said to me and that's what I've always done."

When another reporter wondered if brash "I-want-to-take-down-Tiger" talk from players like Rory Sabbatini, Ian Poulter and Jason Day gets him annoyed, Woods said, "My father's always taught me, just go out there and just play and let your clubs do the talking and that should be enough."

Besides being grounded in common sense, both answers were notable for putting Earl in the present tense.

In a real sense, he is. As poised and matter of fact as Tiger is about his own success, I would guess that he himself often wonders just how his amazing relationship with his father shaped the amazing arc of his life. And on a practical level, thinking and even publicly talking about his father is a way of making sure he doesn't forget his lessons.

Earl is very much alive in Tiger, and probably never more than on the eve of a major championship.

--Jaime Diaz

Jack Nicklaus' appearance before the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship was warmly nostalgic. The 67-year-old Golden Bear came to Boston to meet with the U.S. Presidents Cup team he is captaining for the third straight time, as well as promote a book on his career, "Simply the Best!" that presents the finest compilation of Nicklaus photos ever seen. Produced by Martin Davis in the style of his classic, "The Hogan Mystique," the seven-pound, coffee-table volume is a wonderful contribution to golf history and is being excerpted in the upcoming October edition of Golf Digest. My only quibble is the exclamation point in the title, which Davis will hopefully lose in the second printing.

At the book promotion, Nicklaus was insightful as ever. Looking back, he said he essentially had two careers. The first was as a beefy 210-pounder with a crew cut who in his late teens and early 20s hit the ball so hard that he routinely cracked the heads of persimmon-headed drivers. The swing photos in the new book of the young Nicklaus entering the hitting area with a driver are the epitome of golf power being unleashed, the positions so correct, athletic and obviously explosive that they almost by themselves supply the reason for his greatness.

The second career came after the then 29-year-old Nicklaus decided, upon finding himself inordinately tuckered out at the 1969 Ryder Cup, to lose weight. During a break of three months from competition, he accomplished his goal mostly by playing "speed" golf at the course he lives next to in North Palm Beach, Fla.--Lost Tree--running between shots while carrying six clubs and finishing 18 holes in about an hour. After getting down to about 185 pounds, Nicklaus said he definitely lost some of his distance and power, but felt healthier, grew his hair longer and became a better strategist. "After I dropped the weight, I couldn't do some of the things with the golf ball that I used to, but it was worth it," he said. "I think I won my first three tournaments when I rejoined the tour, and I played the best golf of my career from 1972 to 1975."

Nicklaus said what pleased him most about the new book were the tributes written by his toughest competitors and close friends Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson. The book is a rich repository of old photos and memorabilia, but when asked how much he has been concerned with retaining such stuff, Nicklaus made a circle with his index finger and thumb. Most of the saving has been done by Barbara Nicklaus, who is such a pack rat that according to her husband, she still has the dress she wore at her high school prom. And only recently did Barbara finally part with a white vicuña coat that Jack gave her as a makeup gift for forgetting their first anniversary in 1961. "She gave it to an old friend, who wears it all the time," Nicklaus said. "It cost me $900 when I didn't have a lot of money, but it got me out of trouble."

--Jaime Diaz