Tulsa, Okla. – There are certainly an abundance of numbers that can reflect the inevitability of what will occur late this afternoon at Southern Hills Country Club: Tiger Woods’ 12-0 record when entering the final round of a major championship with the lead, or his 23-0 career record when taking at least a one-shot advantage into a tournament’s final 18 holes.
But perhaps the best indication of the certainty of Woods moving one step closer to Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18 Grand Slam victories were the words spoken Saturday evening – by the same players whose job supposedly is to prevent something as sure as the sun rising and scorching the Oklahoma turf.
“How can I put it?” three-time major champion Ernie Els asked rhetorically. “If I was not a golfer, a fan sitting on the couch, I’d be putting my house on him, yeah.”
“He’s relentless; it’s his presence – he’s always hitting the big shot, making the big putt. It’s like when Jack walked onto the tee. Everybody’s knees started shaking.”
And that would be Stephen Ames, the man who will be paired with Woods during today’s final round of the PGA Championship.
Of course, Ames might be forgiven for his genuflection at Woods’ altar. It was just a little more than a year ago before the opening round of the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play that he made the mistake of questioning Woods’ game. When the two met in the opening round, Ames was thrashed by a record score of 9 and 8.
The only truly fitting thing to do would bring Rory Sabbatini, the South African who missed the weekend cut, back and make him play with Woods.
Sabbatini has been poking at Woods with a stick – as it turns out, a teeny-weeny stick – all season long. The most recent instance came just a week ago before the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational. Woods trailed Sabbatini by one stroke when they embarked on their Sunday pairing. The deficit was erased by the fourth hole, Woods going on to win by eight shots.
That performance gave Woods, who just three weeks ago at the British Open foundered and looked as helpless as he has in years, the momentum that has carried him to the top of the leaderboard here.
“I accomplished my goal today,” Woods said after completing a 1-under-par 69 that gave him a three-shot advantage over Ames. “My goal was to shoot under par and increase my lead, and I was able to do that.”
From there, it may be as simple as getting out of the way while everyone else does pratfalls. Woods finished in a tie for 12th at Carnoustie in the British; before that, he played in the final group in four straight majors. In the first, the 2006 British, Sergio Garcia bogeyed two of the first three holes to fade away. In the second, the 2006 PGA, Luke Donald hung tougher but still shot a 2-over 74 to Woods’ 4-under 68.
At this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, Woods was paired with Australians Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley, respectively. Both opened the day with triple bogeys, Appleby going on to shoot a 75, Baddeley an 80.
Interestingly enough, even though Woods managed to gain the lead during the final day in each event, he couldn’t seal the deal, losing to Zach Johnson and Angel Cabrera. Some say that’s a function of how Woods plays in the majors, Arron Oberholser calling it “horrifying precision.” That may be conducive to holding a lead, playing to the center of greens and two-putting for pars, but not as great when it’s necessary to attack and try to make birdies in order to make up a deficit.
Each of Woods’ major championships have come when he’s been ahead; he’s never rallied to take a title.
One might be tempted to ask Woods to account for that discrepancy, but the response would certainly be that this week, there’s simply no reason to worry about it.
After all, Woods isn’t behind now, and, short of the most stunning upset this side of Georgetown-Villanova in 1985, he won’t be tonight, either.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
