LA JOLLA, Calif. — As Tiger was uncoiling in the interview room and describing how he bombarded the holes on 13, 17 and 18 with more than 130 feet of putts and a chip for two eagles and a birdie, a security guard opened the door to the west, and a stream of light from the sun setting over the Pacific shone directly on Tiger’s face.
Illuminating.
Whatever one’s spiritual beliefs might be, that moment was divine, mystical and, at the very least, eerie.
Tiger Woods is supernatural, or super and unnatural.
Eureka, your daddy, you’re not going to believe the latest from The Lore & Legend of Tiger Woods.
Tiger has a leg to stand on — and another he can barely pivot on.
But, early Saturday evening, beginning at 5:54 p.m. (PDT), Tiger, who was struggling to stay close to par and the leaders, suddenly took control of the United States Open.
Get your kicks on Route 66.
After busting his drive on the 13th hole at Torrey Pines deep into the rough and just a few yards from the hot dog-and-beer stand and behind a television tower, Tiger got a (legal) free drop, then drilled a shot with the precision of a good dentist or a Marine sniper.
The 5 iron traveled 210 yards over the flagstick and settled at the back of the green, 66 feet away.
When his putt rolled down the hill and toward the cup, Tiger danced sideways and, as the ball disappeared, double fist-pumped repeatedly. The eagle had landed.
This guy made a mess of the first hole, double-bogeying it for the second time in three rounds, and was verging on becoming a malcontent when he cranked a weak putt on No. 3 for a par and met the bogey man on No. 4.
Tiger’s bogey-five at 12 put him over par for the tournament.
The eagle put him back under. He bogeyed 14, then almost collapsed on the tee at 16 when his fragile knee buckled. Tiger has been playing golf, of any kind, for the first time this week since undergoing surgery two days after finishing second at the Masters.
He limped home.
But he sprinted home, like Secretariat or a kid late for supper.
On 17, Tiger hit another errant drive into the kikuya grass and lobbed a 7 iron left of the green onto an incline. On the chip, from 30 feet, “I hit it too hard, and it came out hot. And one hop, and it went in.”
He grinned, almost as if he were embarrassed, all the way to retrieve his ball. “Realistically, I should have probably had an 8-footer coming back, but I got away with one down there.”
Woods was 1-under-par and radaring leader Lee Westwood and passed the fading Rocco Mediate.
Tiger was grimacing after every shot. “But if the pain hits, pain hits. So be it. It’s just pain.”
At the par-5 18th tee, he “just tried to get the ball in the fairway.” He had 227 yards remaining, climbed on a 5 wood and rode it to the green, 40 feet shy of the hole.
Yes, of course, there was never any doubt, Tiger sent the ball from sight. Another eagle had landed.
He had finished 3-5-4-3-3-3 and had a 33 on the back nine — to go with a 30 on the front nine (which he played last) the day before.
“I was just trying to get by” on Saturday, Tiger said. “I didn’t hit the ball well. I didn’t warm up well. . . . I was just trying to manage my game, stay in there. I was just trying to get back to even par for the day and the tournament.”
He is first in a major — once again.
Don’t bury his heart at wounded knee.
The official owner of Torrey Pines is the city of San Diego.
But Tiger Woods is the real owner of the public golf course. Raised nearby, he started playing at Torrey Pines as a young boy — and at 9, won his first junior tournament here. He won five more kids events, including the Junior World Championship at 15. He has won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines six times, including the last four.
And guess who’s ahead at the National Open at Torrey . . . Tiger Pines.
Woods has previously made chips and putts many times. There was the crazy chip at the Masters, immortalized in Nike commercials, a 25-foot putt to win Arnold Palmer’s personal tournament, a 70-foot heat-seeking putt at the Tour Championship last year, and the garden-variety sand-and-rough blinkers.
But never three “bombs,” as he calls them, in six holes — of “50-to-60 feet (actually 66, according to a measurement), about 30 feet and, oh, 40 feet.”
Get the Guinness World Record people on the phone. Fergus Muir once made a hole-in-one from 375 feet at St. Andrews, and Nick Faldo produced the longest putt — 100 feet — in the history of the four majors, at the Masters.
Route 66 putt down, tough chip in, concluding monster putt vanishing.
It’s unbelievable.
Except, with Eldrick T. Woods, everything is believable. I’ve been watching him in Masters, U.S. Opens, British Opens and PGA Championships since he played a practice round at Augusta with Jack and Arnie — and both declared he would win more Masters than they did combined (10).
I believe. The thousands who followed Tiger around Torrey Pines believe. The other pros believe. The world believes.
And the setting sun shining through the door and on his face was one more sign.
There likely will be a rare green flash at dusk on Sunday for Tiger Woods.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
