At the tender age of 22, I don't claim to have 'seen it all' in this humbling game of golf. However, at the risk of hyperbole-of which I am not a big fan-I must say Saturday at the Open Championship was one of the most shocking days in sports in my memory.
Well, it was for the ages all right-for all the wrong reasons.
Tiger Woods, who couldn't buy a putt in the first two rounds but who everyone believed would eventually start making the patented charge, shot 81 in the third round. It was the his highest score as a professional.
Woods shooting 81? In a major? Whoa, maybe I HAVE seen it all.
To be fair to Mr. Woods, Saturday was a miserable day on which to play golf. Only nine players broke par 71, and ten players scored in the 80s. To say it was wet and windy-in other words, a typical Scottish summer day-would be a gross understatement.
On that particular day, I would have been lucky to have shot 81 on the front nine at Muirfield, which received rave reviews afterward for its fair set-up that didn't just favour the long hitters and instead brought more players into the picture.
Indeed, the leaderboard going into the final round was the most international of the majors this year. South African Ernie Els, at five under, held a two-stroke lead over Dane Soren Hansen, with English Justin Rose and Americans Justin Leonard and Scott McCarron, Spain's Sergio Garcia, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Irish veteran Des Smyth another shot back.
Before the final group even teed off, Aussie Peter O'Malley and England's Gary Evans set the tone. O'Malley's 65 put him at -4 for the championship, but it was Evans' 65 that shook up the field. The Englishman's charge, which included eight birdies through first 11 holes, came to a halt on the par-5 17th hole, where after losing a ball and taking a penalty stroke, Evans drained a 40-footer for par. Although the bogey at the final hole would cost him dearly, Evans' exciting playing spiced up the final round early on.
Els came out a bit flat but recovered with birdies on 10th and 12th, which helped him maintain a two-shot lead.
Standing on the par-3, 16th tee with a one-shot lead after bogeying 14th, Els pulled a seven-iron and ended up with a double bogey. Now he had to birdie at least one of the next two holes just to tie three players who were already in the clubhouse at -6: Australia's Stuart Appleby (65) and Steve Elkington (66) and Frenchman Thomas Levet (66).
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