TULSA, Okla. – Where’s Johnny Miller when you need him?
Best guess, sweating like a PGA marshal in the August sun late Friday afternoon while his major monument settled into Tiger Woods’ crosshairs.
Had the opinionated U.S. Open champ-turned-television-talking-head been in or about Southern Hills during the second round festivities, he likely would have dropped to the crusty ground a split second after Woods’ 15-footer for birdie at No. 18 whipped around the horn and refused to drop.
Significance is often lost in the simplicity of an accomplishment. And Woods’ second round card of 7-under 63 at the 89th PGA Championship was simply perfect.
Had that 15-footer for major championship fame dropped, Woods would have bettered Miller’s increasingly popular 63, which came in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open, and become the first player to sign for 62 in a Grand Slam event.
Instead, Miller continues to stand out among the 22 other players in “Club 63,” for his round was the only one that won a trophy on Sunday.
And Woods, well, he had to settle for a two-stroke lead in the season’s final major and the confidence that comes with an eight-birdie, one-bogey effort on a course that many reason is the architectural equivalent of kryptonite to the world No. 1.
Yet even on the brink of perfection, Woods the realist, Woods the perfectionist, seemed detached from it all.
“Sixty-two would have meant I had a three-shot lead instead of a two-shot lead,” he reasoned.
For Woods, the big picture never seemed so clear. When the only real number that means anything is Jack’s 18 grand goblets, maybe bettering Miller and Co.’s prize doesn’t register like it would with another.
Woods was, after all, facing the reality of an 0-for-4 major season.
Although that’s not unheard of – he went four and out as recently as 2004 – it’s hardly ideal for a man who recognizes just four months on his calendar – April, June, July and August.
You don’t dole out pennants after the All-Star break, you don’t fit players for green jackets after Wednesday’s Par-3 Contest at Augusta National and you never crown a major champion in Friday’s fading light.
Yet there was, amid the roars that followed Woods’ pursuit, a cool, wet blanket that settled over steamy Southern Hills. That 7 under, for all its historical cache, vaulted Woods from the middle of the pack, which is where he was after an opening 71, to a pole position that must look every bit as imposing as the west face of K2 in the Himalayas.
With all due respect to Rory Sabbatini, Woods may look as beatable as ever at the Wachovia Championship or TPC Sawgrass, but at a major he’s the same 300-pound gorilla we all love to fear.
Woods is all but untouchable from the top of the heap. He’s a perfect 7-for-7 when leading after 36 holes in majors. After 54, he’s an even more automatic 12-for-12.
“He does pretty well when he leads after two rounds and even better when he leads after three rounds,” said Geoff Ogilvy, who held a share of the lead with Woods at 5 under until a pair of sloppy bogeys dropped him three shots back. “But at some point he’s not going to win.”
For Ogilvy and all others running up hill, catching Woods is akin to spotting Michael Jordan a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. It would require an all-time psych job and more than a little bit of help from a man who is signature stingy when crystal is on the line.
The way Woods negotiated Southern Hills’ water-starved greens on Friday – he essentially one-putted the afternoon, needing just 13 putts to cover 12 holes from the fourth through 15th holes – it would likely also take a record-breaking effort from Ogilvy and Scott Verplank, who was alone in second place at 4 under, to run him down.
Maybe more chilling than the ridiculously red numbers next to Woods’ name on the leaderboard was the swagger that accompanied the show.
It was signature Woods. The walk-off fist pump after holing a 35-footer for par at No. 12, the neatly played chip-in at No. 14. Even the missed birdie attempt at the last was executed confidently, with the ball dipping two-thirds of the way into the cup before spinning out in the opposite direction.
“Nice little record to have, but 62 1/2 isn’t bad,” said Woods, a smile inching across his normally stoic face.
Woods picked apart Southern Hills with Hoylake precision, 3-iron here, 5-iron there, toss in a driver every few holes. Afterwards, he used words like “ideal” and “control” to describe his round – buzz words that must sound like a buzz saw to those in pursuit.
Woods is a history major, aware at all times of the weight of the moment, and his pained reaction as his historic putt horseshoed back towards him hinted at how badly he wanted 62.
Yet his relaxed demeanor post-63 was a reminder that there is only one number etched into his “Post-it” psyche.
Yeah, the 62 would have been nice, but Woods will gladly settle for major No. 13.
Posted: 8/10/2007
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