On a day when Jack Nicklaus bid
farewell, Tiger Woods had the final word.
After a long day of fog, sunshine and tears for a 60-year-old
champion today in the U.S. Open, the siren sounded as darkness
fell over Pebble Beach. Woods had the option of finishing out the
12th hole, and did so in style.
He rapped in a 30-foot putt, his fifth birdie of the round on
rock-hard greens, to build a three-stroke lead over Miguel Angel
Jimenez and take strong vibes into the conclusion of the second
round on Saturday.
Not like he needs them.
Pebble Beach showed a nasty temper, with the fickle winds and
concrete greens that made par a pleasure. Woods treated it the same
way he did in February when he had a 64 to come from seven strokes
behind on the last seven holes to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Woods birdies the shot 7th during the second round. Allsport
"What can you say? He's that good,'' Rocco Mediate said. "If
he falters a bit, he might let some guys back in it. If he doesn't,
forget it.''
That's what they used to say about Nicklaus. Instead, today
marked the passing of a generation -- Nicklaus limping home in his
record 44th U.S. Open, and most likely his last; Woods breezing
along on a brutally tough day.
Nicklaus gave his adoring gallery one last thrill by lashing a
3-wood into a Pacific breeze and reaching the 545-yard 18th hole in
two shots, something he hasn't tried in 20 years.
"It's been a great run of tournaments,'' Nicklaus said, his
blue eyes glistening as he tried to hold back the tears.
Woods was standing on the practice green when he heard the roar,
and thought someone had holed out from the fairway. Then he
realized Nicklaus, the man whose records Woods might one day
threaten, was finishing his round.
"It would have been nice seeing it, but I had more important
things to take care of,'' Woods said.
He did just that.
After his first bogey of the championship, on the par-3 fifth
hole that Nicklaus built two years ago, Woods ripped an iron from
the rough on No. 6, the ball climbing over the ocean and a cypress
tree and landing on the green 15 feet away for a two-putt birdie.
He birdied the 106-yard seventh hole with a 10-footer, and
finished up his day with birdies on the 11th and 12th, putting him
at 3-under for his round and 9-under for the tournament.
"I was just trying to get it close and get out of Dodge, and it
went in,'' Woods said of the final putt, a 30-footer.
He refused to look too far ahead, or compare it to his record
12-stroke victory in the 1997 Masters.
"There's a long way to go. We haven't even finished the second
round yet,'' Woods said. "This golf course is a lot more demanding
than Augusta was at that time with no rough.''
Jimenez was at 6-under through seven holes when play was
suspended by darkness. Fifty-six players will return at 6:30 a.m.
Saturday to complete the third round.
Nicklaus will not be there. His anticipated walk up the 18th
fairway came two days early, and the finish was not what he had in
mind.
Nicklaus three-putted for par and signed for an 82, his worst
score in 160 U.S. rounds dating to 1957.
"It's been a great run of tournaments,'' Nicklaus said, his
blue eyes glistening as he tried to hold back the tears.
Pebble Beach made others break down today, but for a different
reason.
The sea breeze that finally shooed away the fog also brought out
the beast in Pebble Beach, its fickle winds that helped produce a
hazy yellow hue on greens, turning them into crusty parcels on
concrete.
"You could hear the greens yelling, 'I'm thirsty!' " said Lee
Janzen, who had at 73 for a 2-over 144 total.
Greg Norman went eight straight holes with a bogey or worse for
an 82, his worst U.S. Open round ever. He will miss the cut for the
third straight time.
So will Davis Love III (75-79), for just the third time in his
career.
None of this seem to faze Woods, who rolled in a 15-foot par
putt on No. 2 and followed that with a 30-foot birdie on the third
hole to get to 7-under, two strokes clear of Jimenez.
He made his first bogey of the championship on the par-3 fifth,
and showed a slight chink when his next drive sailed right into the
rough. But Woods ripped an iron over Stillwater Cove and onto the
sixth green, setting up a two-putt from 15 feet for birdie.
He also birdied the 106-yard seventh from 10 feet, but was
scooting along through the Cliffs of Dooms with minimal damage.
"I just sit back and stand in awe of the kid,'' said hometown
hero Bobby Clampett, who started the day three strokes back and
walked off the course 10 strokes back. "Any time you think he
can't do something, he proves you wrong.''
All corners of the globe were trying to catch him.
Jimenez, the Spaniard whom Woods beat in a playoff at Valderrama
in November, made par on the first five holes and picked up his
lone birdie on the par-5 sixth hole.
"If my game stays the way it is, I'm not afraid of anything,''
Jimenez said.
Angel Cabrera of Argentina also was bogey-free through seven holes before bogeys on 8 an 9 dropped him back to 2-under and tied with Thomas Bjorn of Denmark for third place. Kirk Triplett completed an even-par 71 (32-39) earlier in the day and is at 1-under, along with Robert Damron, who is 2-under through seven holes of his second round.
No one else could made a move.
Despite fog that hugged the coastline overnight and well into
the morning, the greens had virtually no moisture and the field had
almost no chance. By late afternoon, only three players had managed
to break par.
The best score posted was by Daley -- that's Joe.
He followed up an 83 -- the same score as John Daly, who
immediately left town -- with a 2-under 69, although he will still miss
the cut. Nine other players still on the course were also under
par.
"I felt like I was playing with a marble out on the pool
table,'' Nicklaus said. "If you're not quite on your game, it eats
you alive every time.''
Triplett made a brief run, but he landed on the beach below
the 10th hole and into the shin-deep rough on the 13th hole, both
times making doube bogey. A brilliant start still led to a 71, and he was
the early clubhouse leader after 36 holes at 1-under 141.
Three-time Masters and British Open champion Nick Faldo
stubbornly tried to hang around the lead until he missed too many
greens and failed to hole enough putts. He finished with a 74 for
1-over 143.
Their only hope was that Pebble Beach treated Woods with the
same indignation. Woods opened with a 6-under 65, the lowest U.S.
Open round ever at Pebble Beach, before fog suspended the first
round on Thursday.
Nicklaus saved his best for last, soaking in the beauty of
Pebble Beach one last time. He figured it had been 20 years since
he tried to reach the 18th green in two, but turned to his oldest
son Jackie, his caddie, and said, "Why not?''
He ripped his drive past the pine tree in the middle and hit a
3-wood for all it was worth. The ball hopped onto the front of the
green, and the gallery rose to their feet and let out a roar.
"It's difficult coming up the last fairway, knowing it will
probably be the last time you're going to come up the U.S. Open
fairway,'' Nicklaus said. "It's been a big part of my life.''
Back in the fairway, Tom Watson stopped and applauded as
Nicklaus was on the green.
For most of the day, Woods's biggest battle was with boredom.
Nearly 30 hours passed between his final putt for birdie on
Thursday and his first tee shot this afternoon at 4:40 p.m., thanks to the
heavy fog that suspended play in the first round.
Seventy-five players had to return at 6:45 a.m., then waiting
another 90 minutes for the fog to finally lift. Among them was Ted
Tryba, who couldn't believe what he saw -- or felt -- when he got
back on the course.
"We had moisture on the green last night with the fog and
everything, but they're twice as firm,'' Ted Tryba said. "Go
figure.''
Go figure Woods.
He treated Pebble the same he did four months ago, when he came
from seven strokes back over his last seven holes to win the Pebble
Beach National Pro-Am.
Masters champion Vijay Singh had a 73 and was still in the
picture at 1-over 143. No one since Faldo in 1990 has finished in
the top 10 in a U.S. Open after winning the green jacket.
Fred Couples (75) bogeyed two of the last three holes to finish
at 145, along with Watson.
Another senior tour star, Hale Irwin, capped off a 68 in the
morning but limped home with a 78 and was at 146.
"The greens,'' Irwin said, shaking his head. "I'm not going to
say they're impossible, but they're close.''
Another stroke back was Colin Montgomerie (74) and two-time Open
champion Ernie Els (73). Their chances were fading as Woods
finished each hole, usually with no worse than par.
The 24-year-old, playing his 100th professional tournament in
the 100th U.S. Open, had a chance to succumb to the torturous
conditions -- or take a huge step toward become the first
wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since the late Payne Stewart at
Hazeltine in 1991.
