Tiger trying to catch Wi; third-round 67 signals continued gains
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Charlie Wi can recount the story like it was yesterday.
Tiger Woods, not so much.
Wi is four years older than Woods, who was always playing against the older foes as a kid, so they once were paired together in a junior event in Long Beach. Wi had folks laughing out loud when he talked about how Woods, age 9, hit a wedge shot from about 70 yards that landed a few feet from the hole.
Woods erupted in anger.
"I said, 'Tiger, that's a great shot, what's wrong?'" Wi recounted Saturday, as Woods stood a few feet away and smirked. "He said, 'I was trying to make that one.'"
Woods laughed, and when Wi left the room, playfully said that he had slightly different recall.
"From my version," Woods said, "I think it went in."
Woods hopes to author more revisionist history Sunday at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he will start the day four shots behind Wi in an attempt to win his first PGA Tour title in 28 months. Not to mention slam shut the traps of those who wrote that his career was toast.
| Pebble Beach Pro-Am |
| Related links |
| Video |
Finally steering a few putts into the jar, Woods shot a 5-under 67 at Pebble Beach in the third round, reeling off six birdies in an eight-hole stretch in mid-round, to jump right into the roiling waters at a venue where he has two victories, but none in 12 years.
In some ways, it feels like it's been that long since Woods was in the mix at a U.S. event. But as uneven and mostly awful as his 2011 season looked, the past three months have produced a steady progression of improved results and unbridled optimism.
He sits in solo third place -- and he finished no worse than T3 in each of the last three starts that awarded world-ranking points, in far-flung places like Australia to Abu Dhabi. Now he's doing it on home soil, and will share a spot in the second-to-last twosome of the day with longtime foil Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner at Pebble who shot 70 and is six strokes behind Wi.
In what has practically become a trend, career non-winners on the tour over the past two Sundays have blown 54-hole leads of five and six shots. Wi, who has won overseas but not on the PGA Tour, has a three-stroke lead over Ken Duke, with Woods and Mickelson close enough to fog up the glass on the winner's crystal trophy.
"I've won all over the world, and in Europe, and I know how to win when I'm in contention," said Wi, who attended University of California in nearby Berkeley. "We'll see how it plays out."
These days, we never really know. As for Woods in particular, he hasn't come from behind to win since he erased Padraig Harrington's three-shot third-round lead at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2009. Woods, who has climbed from outside the top 50 to No. 18 since mid-December, would have a fair chance at cracking the top 10 with a victory.
Though, the way Woods is walking, talking and stalking, it's like he never went away in the first place. Asked if he was surprised at how quickly it's come together over recent weeks, Woods looked his inquisitor in the eye and never blinked.
"Not when I'm healthy, no," Woods said.
Of course, to some, it seems like the patchwork process took forever. He hasn’t won in the States since the fall of 2009, a career-long skid, but has picked up where he left off in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, when he held the 54-hole lead and was beaten by journeyman Robert Rock, who had one European Tour victory to his credit beforehand.
Woods hasn't been this close to the lead after three rounds on the PGA Tour since he was four strokes behind Lee Westwood at the 2010 Masters, which seems like a career ago, doesn’t it?
The scary part is, it's been three rounds of fits and spurts -- Woods hasn’t remotely pieced together all the parts on the same day. Saturday, he started knocking in putts, a complete turnaround from the first two days, when he struck the ball like Hogan -- and putted like him, too.
"I scored well today," Woods said, "but I hit the ball better the first two days."
If the guy finds the keys to all 14 clubs at the same time, it could be like old times. As in, say, 2009.
"I managed my game well today," he said. "Even though my game was off, it is not as off as it used to be."
Danny Lane, one of two amateur players in Woods' group over the first three rounds, noticed immediately that Woods was in game-face mode compared to the first two days, when he was a lot more chatty and less, well, mercenary about the task at hand.
"For three days people have been asking and wondering how he's been playing," Lane said as he walked to the group's 10th tee Saturday. "Well, he has barely missed a shot. He just needed to roll in a few putts, and today, he has."
Sort of makes us wonder what Woods will do when he gets to open, table-top-flat venues like Doral. He's already starting to play with the same expectations as when he was 9, facing Wi on that course in Long Beach, 27 long years ago.
"That always stuck in my mind," Wi recalled. "How competitive he was -- and he's a fierce competitor."
After two years of being mostly MIA, it looks like he again has the shots to back up the bravado.
