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When it was repeated, Woods finally replied, "I don't know how you answer that one."
Austin tried to clarify later by saying that Woods "can" be beat, and that much is true. He went on to note that Woods had a four-shot lead at the PGA Championship going into the last round.
"That's why he won," Austin said. "Anybody is hard to catch when they're playing great, especially if you happen to be the best player in the world. But in this game, anybody can be beaten on any given day. But if he starts five shots in front, it doesn't matter. You can't let him get that far out front."
Woods certainly had his chances.
East Lake is such a pushover that the Tour Championship scoring record of 17-under 263 (Bart Bryant in 2005) could fall. Woods took full advantage with an array of splendid shots, and a heavy dose of luck.
It began with an approach into 10 feet for birdie at No. 4. Then came a poor tee shot and an approach into the bunker, which he had hoped to get within 15 feet of the hole to save par. He blasted out over the lip, and the ball bounced three times before rolling into the cup.
"By the crowd's reaction, I thought it came screaming in there and hit the flag and ricocheted off and I had a 1-foot putt or something," Woods said. "I got up there and it was gone. Nice surprise."
Then came three more birdies inside 12 feet, followed by the par-5 ninth, where he reached the 609-yard hole in two shots, his ball on the other side of the green. Woods hammered it up the hairy slope, watched it move like it was on a slalom course, then bang into the back of the cup for a 70-foot eagle.
"Pure luck," Woods said. "If you could have been right behind the golf ball and see how that thing was bouncing all over the place, it was actually quite funny."
Steve Stricker played a solid front nine while paired with Woods and felt outclassed.
"I played pretty good," he said. "I was 2 under and I'm 5 down. You just start thinking, 'Jeepers, what just happened?' He's got a lot of offense, if you know what I mean. You're just waiting for that run of holes, and then he takes off."
But he's not gone.
Austin is only three shots behind, and five other players were within five shots of the lead. The group at 9-under 131 included Tim Clark (69), Mark Calcavecchia (66) and defending champion Adam Scott (66).
"Luckily for all of us, he kind of slowed down a little bit and kept a tournament of it," Scott said.
K.J. Choi shot a 65 and was another shot behind at 132, along with Sergio Garcia (64).
And while Woods nursing a three-shot lead and playing this well can be daunting, anything goes at East Lake, where the greens are slow and soft, and the pins are what players usually find in pro-am rounds to keep the hole away from the damaged edges of the greens.
Woods played that six-hole stretch in 7 under, although he didn't realize he shot 28 until he signed his card. Someone asked him to compare that stretch with the Masters two years ago, when he made seven straight birdies on his way to a 65 and a three-shot lead going into the final round.
"I liked the one at Augusta a lot more actually," Woods said. "That golf course is a little harder. I should correct that — a lot harder."
He wound up winning that Masters in a playoff.
