The USGA got it right. The set up at Torrey pines was tough but fair, there were par fives that players could use to mount a charge and change the leaderboard with, gasp, birdies. Once again Tiger led a major championship going into the final round, in which he has never lost, 14-0.
It looked early in the round, as Tiger started double-bogey, bogey, that his time had finally come to lose one. Westwood seemed on cruise control and Mediate was there too. Suddenly, over par seemed to be a possible winning score and Mike Weir gave us Canucks something to think about for a bit there.
As the back nine unfolded it was apparent it was a three horse race between Tiger, Lee and Rocco. Not one of those players took control of the Championship and they all had their chances. Number 13 came into play again but for all the wrong reasons. Mediate missed a short putt for birdie and Woods and Westwood had brain cramps in trying to reach or get near the green in two, on a 614 yard hole, and put their shots into a lateral hazard, each dropping a shot.
With Rocco in at -1, both Tiger and Westwood needed to birdie the last hole to force a playoff on Monday. Westwood landed in a fairway bunker on the left side of the fairway, Tiger went into one on the right side. Both laid up on their second shots with Tiger going into the rough. A very good third by Tiger left him with about a 12 footer for birdie. Westwood was first to go and just missed his birdie and it set the stage for Tiger. In this age of "reality" t.v. nothing can compare to an all or nothing moment like this. Make the putt and you continue on, miss it and you lose.
And in typical Tiger fashion, he sank the putt.
Now we can all call in sick tomorrow so we can see what they will do for the encore.
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