Woods catches fire
Tiger Woods wasn’t even paying attention to his score. No one else could ignore it.
It was an incredible stretch of golf that lasted just more than an hour under heavy clouds and the threat of storms, but those six holes Friday at the Tour Championship in Atlanta changed everything.
Woods ran off five straight birdies, including one he never saw go in from the bottom of a bunker. Then he rammed in a 70-foot eagle putt for a 28 on the front nine of defenseless East Lake, the lowest nine-hole score of his career. It energized a lifeless gallery at East Lake with hopes of seeing a 59.
It drained whatever drama was left in the FedEx Cup.
“I don’t know if it’s a zone or not,” Woods said after settling for a 7-under-par 63 and a three-shot lead. “I just felt that the rhythm was good.”
Mark Calcavecchia was tied for the lead when he started hearing one huge roar after another on the other side of the course, and watched Woods start to separate himself on the leaderboard. He calculated a 28 on the front and tried to guess where Woods made par.
“First three? He got off to a bad start. He could be in a slump,” Calcavecchia said.
Steve Stricker was along for the ride and more amazed than anyone.
“I was 2 under and I’m five down,” he said. “You just start thinking, ‘Jeepers, what just happened?’ He’s got a lot of offense, if you know what I mean.”
The only charitable thing Woods did was keep it a contest.
Leading by as many as four shots at one point along the back nine, he went five holes without a birdie to kill off any thoughts of a 59, twice made bogey from the rough and had to settle for a three-shot margin over Woody Austin.
Woods was at 13-under 127, his best start since he was at 15-under 125 at Firestone in 2000, a tournament he won by 11. At East Lake, he still has some competition.
Austin had a 65 for the second straight day to get into the final pairing with Woods today.
Six players were within five shots of the lead.
Solheim Cup
Par of the century. Best par in history. Unbelievable.
That’s just what the other team was saying about the magic act Laura Davies conjured up on the 16th hole at the Solheim Cup in Halmstad, Sweden.
Davies called her amazing par from the bushes and bramble behind a sinister creek called Backen a “hit and hope,” a “500-1 shot,” “something that a 36-handicapper might try for.”
Even with the half point Davies helped salvage with that par, the United States still led the Europeans 4 1/2-3 1/2 after a windy, wet and frigid slog in Sweden – a good sign for a team that hasn’t been ahead after the first day of this event since 1998.
But it was the Europeans who walked off the course with all the momentum and buzz.
That was because of Davies, who cemented herself in Solheim Cup lore with a hack through the tree roots and a 50-foot chip-in for par, saving her match and turning a rough opening day for the Europeans into something much better.
Champions Tour
Heavy rain forced Champions Tour officials to call off the opening round of the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, N.C.
The first round will resume at 8 a.m. today, with the second round expected to begin at 12:30 p.m.