Cink, who played with Woods all weekend, spoke of the world No. 1's impressive control off the tee, but the stats said Woods hit just 27 of 56 fairways for the week, 59th best in the field. (He was also tied for second in greens in regulation and first in putting.) In fact Woods was narrowly missing fairways, and his score was none the worse for it, the only glimmer of hope for his fellow competitors. No one misses fairways without a stiff penalty in a U.S. Open.
Woods served notice that '08 might be a huge year with a seven-stroke victory at his (unofficial) Target World Challenge last month, his first start since an eight-stroke victory at the Tour Championship. His mind was on golf and only golf, which wasn't always the case in 2006 and '07, which saw the death of Woods's father, Earl, and the birth of his first child, daughter Sam Alexis.
"I haven't talked to him a lot lately," said Mark O'Meara, a friend of Tiger's, "but I know people in his inner circle who say he's more focused this year than he has been."
Having won the Buick three years running, Woods seemed a lock to do it again, as long as the weather cooperated. Experts were predicting a 90% chance of precipitation for the final round Sunday, but early clouds parted to reveal bright blue sky, and it seemed the same people who did the political polling in New Hampshire were now doing Southern California meteorology. The only major obstacle was gusty winds, and Woods tamed even those.
The 198-yard, par-3 third hole, with its elevated tee and a green that sits on the edge of a cliff, played into the teeth of a two-club wind. It was the site of so much calamity that Woods's group waited on the tee for 20 minutes, during which time they watched Aaron Baddeley, in the group ahead, hit a weak fade that got blown to CBS's TV tower.
Joe Durant led off Woods's group and hit a low riser that started at the pin but hit the headwind and spun back and to the right after hitting the green, ending up 40 feet away. Everyone agreed it was a good shot. Woods went next and hit a laser-straight 4-iron with little backspin but just enough hook spin to hold its line in the wind. It landed 20 feet, 5 inches behind the hole and stayed put. Everyone agreed it was a great shot.
It was Woods at his best, one of his two best shots on the day, he would say later. He'd aimed at one cameraman and tried to draw the ball at another one, "and I flushed it." He missed his birdie putt, but the lesson, as usual, was as stark as the score: He was playing a different game.
