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It was happening.
There was no way it wasn't going to happen.
Tiger Woods was 9 under through 13 holes, needing only two birdies in his last five holes for the slippery, elusive score of 59.
Only five men have done it on the PGA Tour and for a while on Friday at the Bridgestone Invitational it felt like a certainty Tiger would become the sixth.
He had 11 one-putts through his first 13 holes. Eleven!
Poor guy went off the rails after that though. Way off the rails. Woods closed with five pars to shoot his 61. Here's a look at his scorecard:
He could have easily had the 59 too. He missed a short putt on No. 15, hit a terrible wedge shot (for him) on the par-5 No. 16, then missed a six-foot birdie on No. 17 that would have kept the dream alive.
Woods was excited about his round, too. He talked to Golf Channel after his round.
"I had it going today, four under through three is always a nice thing to have."
"I could have done it. The good news is I've done it before. I felt pretty relaxed, if I hadn't ever shot 59 before it would have been a different story. It wasn't out of the realm of being uncomfortable."
His caddie Joe LaCava agreed. He told Jason Sobel of Golf Channel after the round it wasn't being talked about, but they knew.
"I mean, a second-grader could figure that out!"
And Woods' 18th hole though, my gosh. After three terrible shots he buried a 25-foot birdie from the fringe to finish off his bogey-free round. Here's a look:
The 61 ties his best score ever on the PGA Tour. He's done it four other times, including at Firestone in 2000, the course record which he's now shot twice.
Alas, instead of a crazy 59 I guess Woods will have to settle for the 61 and a seven-shot lead going into the weekend at Firestone.
Here's the story of his round:
Woods on holes 1-13: 11 one-putts, 2 two-putts, 0 misses inside 10 feet. Last 5 holes: 3 two-putts, 2 misses inside 10 feet.
— Justin Ray (@JRayESPNGolf) August 2, 2013
The 23 putts was still a joke as the next best score on the day was a 66 by John Merrick. He lapped the field a couple of times and now there's no way he isn't getting his eight career win at this tournament.
When asked where it ranked in his career, Tiger gave a classic Tiger answer.
"It's the second day, we have a long way to go."
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