ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- It finally happened. Tiger Woods made a bogey.
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| How to respond to a bogey on No. 2? Seven birdies the rest of the way. |
Even the best player in the world expects to make a few now and again, but he had a rather remarkable streak going.
Through two rounds of the Open Championship, he had made nothing worse than a par. Take it back even farther. In major championships, he had not made a bogey since the 10th hole of the third round at the U.S. Open last month at Pebble Beach.
That was 62 straight holes, a streak he stretched to 63 on Saturday at the Old Course before it finally happened. Woods bogeyed the second hole, three-putting although he was technically off the green.
Suddenly, his three-shot advantage was down to one, as playing partner David Toms birdied the hole.
And Woods proved he could actually make a mistake.
"I made a couple of little mess-ups on the card," he said.
But he came right back to birdie the third hole, restoring a bit of normalcy to the world that is Tiger. And when Ernie Els pulled within a stroke, Woods birdied the eighth and ninth holes to pull comfortably ahead again.
"You know that's going to happen," Woods said. "That's part of playing this golf course, especially under these conditions. Guys can drive No. 10, No. 12, get home in 2 on No. 14. You're going to have to make some birdies."
Woods did, making three straight from the 12th through 14th holes. Even a three-putt bogey at the Road Hole, No. 17, was only a minor annoyance as he came right back to birdie the 18th for a 5-under 67.
That gives him a six-shot lead over David Duval and Thomas Bjorn. Darren Clarke, Loren Roberts and David Toms are seven shots back.
It is very similar to last month at the U.S. Open, where Woods took a 10-shot advantage into the final round over Ernie Els.
A loss is possible -- "I'd have to go out there and not exactly execute the shots I want to execute and David or someone else like Thomas or someone else at 8 or 9 (under) has to play a wonderful round of golf." -- but not probable.
"I think any time you have a lead you feel a little pressure," Woods said. "The bigger the lead, the more pressure you feel. Obviously if you don't end up winning, then I think you're going to feel not so good about yourself at the end of the day that you've let a wonderful opportunity go.
"I've had big leads before and I've been able to succeed before, but we will see."
Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.
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