Tiger's Titles To Lose
Published: Sep 16, 2007
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ATLANTA - Here's FedEx Cup news that only the most optimistic PGA Tour company man would have dared imagine: You do not have to have Tiger Woods doing something amazing for it to be an entertaining day of golf.
Not, at least, over the short haul.
The world's No. 1 player on Saturday continued undeniably toward the FedEx Cup playoff championship and its $10 million bonus prize, but along the way found himself upstaged - at least briefly - by the tour's version of working stiffs.
Zach Johnson shot 60, taking a spirited shot at golf's magical record of 59 with a 50-foot bunker shot for birdie on the final hole that rolled barely a foot off line.
Mark Calcavecchia, at 47 the oldest player in the 30-man field, shot 63 and for a few brief seconds following an eagle at No. 15 moved one shot in front of Woods.
In the end, however, Woods was still Woods, posting a 6-under 64 at East Lake Golf Club for a 54-hole total of 19 under and a three-shot lead over Calcavecchia. His next closest challenger is Sergio Garcia, five shots back.
This is where it becomes mandatory to point out Woods is 40-3 when entering the final round of a tournament with at least a share of the lead and also that during an 11-year, 60-victory professional career has never lost a last-day lead of two shots or more.
"That's a pretty big hill to climb," Calcavecchia said. "If he was hitting a few foul balls it might help, but every time I turned around he was about 40 yards ahead of [playing partner] Woody Austin in the fairway.
"I don't see him shooting worse than 65. It's going to be a nice day. It's not like the wind is going to be blowing 50 miles an hour or something goofy is going to happen. I'm going to have to have another day like [Saturday] to have any sort of chance."
As for the FedEx Cup, there appears to be even less chance for a script rewrite.
Of the four players who began the week with the possibility of jumping past Woods, the closest challenger now is Phil Mickelson, who shot 70 Saturday and trails the leader by 13 shots, suggesting Woods only needs to break 80 during the final round.
"You don't look at it that way," he said. "You can't. You don't start off the year thinking, 'Well, I'm going to try to get the Player of the Year Award. I'm going to try to get the money title.' You know, if you win golf tournaments, period, it takes care of everything else. I'm in a position to get another W. That's the way I've always looked at it."
So Woods will have today to celebrate.
Let Johnson have Saturday.
Beginning the day completely out of the picture at 3 under, the reigning Masters champ played his front-nine in 31, then lit up the back side to rally to 13 under and fourth place.
Johnson hit a 4-iron to 5 feet on the 11th, a 6-iron to 18 feet on the 13th, and an 8-iron to 10 feet at 14 to set up birdies, then laced a 2-iron to 15 feet on the par-5 15th for eagle.
All of a sudden, he was 9 under for the day and needing two birdies on the final three holes for 59.
"Yeah, 16 tee I had to take a couple of deep breaths and just get focused," Johnson said.
He made par at 16 and birdied 17 out of a fairway bunker, setting up final-hole drama at the 235-yard par-3.
There would be no history. Johnson missed the green and found green-side sand and, after blasting out, settled for a tap-in par.
"My shoulders felt heavy and my legs felt like they weighed nothing," Johnson said. "My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding.
"I felt good about the tee shot. The number I had was great. I had a great club for it, just a smooth 2-iron, and I fanned it. But whatever."
Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached
at (813) 281-2534 or melliott@
tampatrib.com.
