Woods Uses Mood Swing to Keep Leaders in Sight

When he played the first nine holes Friday at Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods walked slowly, didn’t smile, played so-so and acted just plain unhappy. He was playing Sorry Pines. Woods was so glum, he looked as though he had just been named coach of the Clippers.

A few holes later, he seemed a lot different, borderline happy. Woods was striding down the fairways, his shoes barely touching the ground as he glided over the short grass.

Come to think of it, to improve somebody’s disposition, there’s nothing quite like making five birdies on the last nine holes and coming in with a 31. Woods finished with a flurry and set himself up for another shot at victory this weekend at the Buick Invitational and No. 7 in a row.

He rescued a round that had extreme blah written all over it, managed a four-under-par 68 in the second round that kept him from getting left behind the trio of leaders who are six shots ahead of him.

This is nothing but good news, Woods insisted.

“Right now, I’m not too bad,” he said. “I don’t have as many guys in front of me.”

Actually, there are 21, but who’s counting? Leading the way are Phil Mickelson, Kirk Triplett and Shigeki Maruyama, who are tied after 36 holes at 11-under 133. That’s one shot better than Sandy Lyle, two shots better than Bradley Hughes and three shots better than Davis Love III and Shaun Micheel.

Triplett and Maruyama had more fun than anyone, or at least they should have, judging by the rounds of 64 they turned in. Maruyama is best known for his 5-0 record in the 1998 Presidents Cup, for being infatuated with Michael Jordan and for his regular appearances on a Japanese television show called “Yume-ga-MoriMori.” Translation: “Lots of Dreams.”

In his dreams, Triplett has won a bunch of times, even if he hasn’t done it yet in 10-plus years on the tour. But he has made about $4 million and he wears a funky Gilligan hat, so you have to say he has had a cool career.

Meanwhile, under that hat, Triplett is thinking about two things: winning and Tiger Woods.

“I know there are some guys that can come from six, seven, eight shots back and he is certainly one of them,” Triplett said. “I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be thinking about him.”

Honesty is always the best policy, even for golfers, which is why Mickelson met the Tiger questions head-on. Mickelson produced a five-under 67 but is not feeling all that warm and comfortable just yet because of the Woods factor.

“Well, given the fact that he shot 17 under over the weekend last year, [a] six-shot lead, that isn’t something to be too comfortable with,” Mickelson said. “And given the fact that he was seven back with seven to go last week, he can obviously turn it on at any time.

“He can do some things that are pretty spectacular. He can hit some amazing golf shots and go really low.”

But for the first nine holes, there was every indication that Woods was going to go very high. He blamed his swing and his putting, which are the parts of his game he was worried about after shooting a 71 in the first round.

There was even a chance he would miss the cut, something Woods has done once in his career. He has made 46 consecutive cuts since the 1997 Canadian Open.

Then Woods made the turn and everything changed. He birdied No. 10 with a 20-foot putt, saved par with a 12-footer at No. 11 and birdied No. 13 after landing in a greenside bunker, then blasting out to three feet.

At the 389-yard 15th, Woods nearly holed a wedge for eagle, landing the ball on the green about 12 feet past the hole and spinning it back to within six inches. Woods made a five-foot birdie putt at No. 16 and was on the green in two on the shortish, 498-yard par-five finishing hole. Woods narrowly missed a 10-footer for eagle and settled for birdie with a three-foot comebacker.

Woods said he is putting better than he was a year ago halfway through the tournament, so that’s something to build on.

Whether he can keep his streak going with a wild weekend at Torrey Pines is not known, but he continues to play with such consistency, that gives him a chance every week. Since the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, where he shot 74-74 on the weekend, Woods has been over par in only two rounds: the fourth round at last year’s National Car Rental Classic and the second round at the AT&T; Pebble Beach. He won both tournaments.

What’s more, Woods has played nine rounds at the Buick Invitational and is a combined 38 under par.

All this means exactly what for the weekend? We’re not sure. Just be advised to pay attention to him.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BUICK OPEN

36-Hole Scores at Torrey Pines--Par 72

LEADERS

Phil Mickelson 66-67--133 -11

Kirk Triplett 69-64--133 -11

Shigeki Maruyama 69-64--133 -11

Sandy Lyle 68-66--134 -10

Bradley Hughes 68-67--135 -9

Davis Love III 65-71--136 -8

Shaun Micheel 68-68--136 -8

Steve Stricker 70-67--137 -7

Skip Kendall 71-66--137 -7

Paul Curry 69-68--137 -7

Craig Stadler 70-67--137 -7

Notah Begay III 70-67--137 -7

*

OTHERS

Duffy Waldorf 69-69--138 -6

Bob Tway 71-67--138 -6

Tiger Woods 71-68--139 -5

Fred Couples 68-71--139 -5

Stewart Cink 74-65--139 -5

Mark O’Meara 72-69--141 -3

Steve Elkington 70-72--142 -2

Jean Van De Velde 68-74--142 -2

*

Nonqualifiers

John Cook 73-72--145 +1

Corey Pavin 74-73--147 +3

Ben Crenshaw 76-74--150 +6

Halfway Home

Tiger Woods’ position after 36 holes in his last six PGA Tour events, all of which he has won:

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Tournament Where Woods Stood NEC Tied for sixth, two behind Disney Tied for first Tour Championship Tied for first American Express Tied for fifth, three behind Mercedes Championships First, ahead by four AT&T; Tied for 13th, eight behind

*--*