SAN DIEGO -- On a day when his facial expressions reflected everything from outright anger, stupefied shock, unbridled glee and clear embarrassment, he saved the best for last.
Deadpan delivery, with a slight smirk.
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| Almost like magic, Tiger Woods' name on the leaderboard doesn't stay in one place long. (Getty Images) |
Oh, not exactly. This week, at least, tedium ain't his medium.
Of all the pyrotechnics Tiger Woods has produced in his career, Saturday's third round at the U.S. Open might have been the wildest by a wide margin, with the reigning world No. 1 repeatedly producing the impossible, conjuring up two eagles and a chip-in birdie on the back nine to finish 3 under, good for a one-stroke lead over England's Lee Westwood heading into the final day.
Even by Woods' improbable, impossible standards, the day was jaw-dropping, partly because of the pleasure, partly because of the pain.
The U.S. Open has been around for 108 years, and while the data collected over the years is spotty at the very least, and hole-by-hole statistics do not exist, rest assured that nobody in national championship history has ever recorded two eagles in a six-hole stretch, with a fluke birdie sandwiched in between.
Five back as he stood on the 13th tee, Woods began slinging insane shots all around the Torrey Pines cliffs, bringing peals of thunder from the crowd that drowned out the jets flying above. He did it while hopping around on a throbbing left knee that, as the week has progressed, has been sending "shooting pain" at unpredictable times.
Woods hadn't walked 18 holes since the Masters before Thursday's first round began, and it appears it was a prudent move. It's getting progressively worse.
"More sore," he said, offering a progress report. "Soon as I can get out of here, I can go ice this thing. Certain shots, I can feel it. I can't say it's a drive or a wedge."
So it was sort of like his round and that old schoolyard saying with regard to insane acts of retribution: Whenever you least expect it, expect it.
As he did a day earlier with a back-nine 30, Woods mounted a careening charge late in the round to not only get back in the mix, but seize control. He's won all 13 of his major championships while holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead, so everybody has a feeling how this is going to end.
Rocco Mediate, who is two shots back at 1 under, was five shots clear of Woods as the Striped One stood on the par-5 13th hole, which he had eagled a day earlier. Woods was trying to hit a driver down the right side, but blew it so far offline that he required relief from a concession stand.
