Woods Has Hacienda by the Tail With a 62 : Golf: At 18, he breaks course record by four shots and leads Southern California Amateur by eight.

By the time Tiger Woods finished his course-record round of 62 in the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship on Saturday, the impossible was getting old hat.

Exhibit A: On the embankment right of the third fairway at Hacienda Golf Club after an errant tee shot, Woods faced a blind shot.

His approach shot carried the street running beside the hole, landed short of the green, bounced off a three-inch concrete curb that lines the cart path, hopped over a bunker guarding the green, and rolled to within a foot of the cup.

Tap. Birdie.

Now imagine that all day.

Woods parlayed that outrageous birdie into an eight-under round to take an eight-stroke lead with a three-round total of 200, 10-under par. The final round is today.

“Over the road was the smart shot. I was just trying to hit the green,” said Woods, 18, from Cypress. Then, breaking a smile, he added, “You kind of get the idea when something like that happens that you’re on a roll. I did get a lot of breaks. But I capitalized on them.”

Woods began the day with a par 4 on the first hole. He then strung together seven consecutive 3s before bogeying the par-four ninth hole for a front-side total of 30, five under par.

On five, Woods’ tee shot seemed headed out of bounds, but it hit the cart path, hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway. Woods found the green, then made a 40-foot putt for a birdie.

He bunkered his second shot on the par-five seventh hole, but holed out for an eagle-3.

“I was trying to get my approach shots close because the greens were jumpy,” Woods said. “I’ve been farther under par, but this is the lowest score I’ve ever shot.”

Said Tom Kroll of San Marcos, who was paired with Woods: “I was just watching. In fact, I was cheering him on. I wanted him to shoot 53.”

Records shattered by Woods’ 62:

--Hacienda’s competitive course record (was 66).

--SCGA Amateur record (was 64).

--SCGA Amateur three-round total at 200 (was 202).

The tournament record of 274 will almost certainly fall today.

Mark Johnson of Helendale, who, like Kroll, started the day two behind, also was paired with Woods, and finished the day in second place at 208 after a 68.

“208 is a low number to be eight shots behind,” Johnson said.

On the eighth hole, Woods overshot the green and ended up in a back sand trap, but he holed the bunker shot for another birdie.

Facing an 180-yard approach shot on 10, Woods dropped it two feet from the hole. Another birdie.

Woods’ birdie was on 14 and typically ridiculous. Off the tee, he landed wide, 200 yards from the hole, in heavy trees, below a blind rise.

Woods launched an iron shot that deftly hooked past a fence of 80-foot oaks guarding the green, bounced on the green’s back apron and into a rear trench.

Another chip shot. Another birdie.