Taming of Tiger: Final Is a Rout

What has a red shirt and a swoosh and was run over Sunday? That would be Tiger Woods, who played tree to Darren Clarke’s chain saw in the final of the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship at La Costa.

Woods was absolutely flattened by Clarke in a 4-and-3 rout that stunned many. One of them would have to be Clarke, who expected to last two or three rounds at the most and who had airline reservations every night during the week.

“Anytime you win a tournament is fantastic,” Clarke said, “but to play against Tiger, the No. 1 player in the world, and come out on top, it’s a great feeling.”

Of course, so is the $1 million winner’s check, which had just been handed to Clarke when he was asked what he planned to do with it.

“Spend it,” he said.

That’s always a good reply, although there aren’t many with the answer to another question: Could anyone have seen this one coming?

Woods had the momentum, the reputation and the No. 1 ranking, but it was the beefy guy from Northern Ireland who was knocking the ball close to the hole and managing to keep Woods at a burly arm’s length.

He might have a reputation as a lad who enjoys happy hour, but the fact is that Clarke played the final as if he just found out there was a sale on pints. Not only did he end the 36-hole final three holes early, but Clarke was eerily consistent throughout, with 12 birdies and just one bogey--none over the last 28 holes.

So it is Clarke, not Woods, who became golf’s newest millionaire-of-the-day. Woods, who won $500,000, was far from the player who dusted Davis Love III in the semifinals. He said he was battling his swing the entire 33 holes. But it’s doubtful he could have done much to stop Clarke anyway.

“Darren just flat-out outplayed me,” Woods said.

So what was his mind set out there? What was he looking for? Birdies? The lead? A four-leaf clover?

“I was just trying to find my golf swing, to be honest with you,” Woods said. “It’s just frustrating when you can’t shape the shot the way you want to. You can see the shot, it doesn’t come off that way.”

He said he got around Sunday “with smoke and mirrors.”

It appeared that way. Woods led just once, when he birdied No. 3 in the morning and never held the lead the last 30 holes.

When you add it up, Woods had 10 birdies, but he also had five bogeys. And during what is usually his time to charge, Woods instead went the other way with bogeys at No. 10 and No. 12, his 28th and 30th holes.

Hope remained for Woods until the 30th hole. Woods was three down at the par-five No. 12, but his second shot landed in a green-side bunker. Woods left the ball in the sand with his third shot, then blasted out to four feet and missed the putt when he pulled it.

Woods had hit a fairway wood for his second shot, not his usual two-iron in that situation.

“Since I can’t hit it solid, there’s no point,” Woods reasoned afterward.

There were two earlier indications that it wasn’t going to be Woods’ day. On No. 4, the 22nd hole, Woods missed the green from the fairway and wound up with a bogey on the same hole Clarke birdied for a 1-up lead.

Woods missed the green on the next hole and managed a par, but Clarke countered with a birdie for a 2-up lead. Then when Clarke birdied No. 7, he had a 3-up lead and a ton of momentum.

“I was expecting Tiger to do a couple of special things,” Clarke said.

But that didn’t happen. What did happen is that Clarke was able to take advantage of Woods’ greater length off the tee. Because Clarke was hitting first and smoking his irons, he put pressure on Woods to try to get the ball closer to the flag.

After 18 holes in the morning, neither player had an advantage. In fact, they tied the last 11 holes, although Clarke missed a chance to go 1-up at No. 18, but missed a six-foot birdie putt after Woods had missed his 13-footer.

Woods had six birdies in the morning, but back-to-back bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6 stalled his progress. Clarke had six birdies in the morning and that served as a good sign for a player who was supposed to be outgunned.

There was a lot of money handed out in this $5 million event, which also had David Duval playing Love in the match to decide third place. Duval birdied six of the last seven holes to defeat Love in the $700,000 consolation match, 5 and 4, and won $400,000.

Said Duval: “Six under through 14 holes is pretty good.”

What Clarke did was just as good and certainly worth a lot more. He began the week ranked No. 19 in the world and is moving up to No. 14 now with an eye on breaking into the top 10.

Woods said Clarke is capable of even more.

“Darren has the ability to obviously play great golf,” Woods said. “It’s just dependent on how dedicated he is to his work ethic. And that’s something that Butch [Harmon] has been trying to get him to do, is work a little bit harder. And he does it at times and he’s able to play great golf.”

Harmon works with both Woods and Clarke, but on the practice range, he spent all but 15 minutes with Woods. What he did tell Clarke was to stay upbeat.

Clarke’s scenario is sort of hard to figure. He missed the cut at the Nissan Open and a week later he wins the biggest check in his 10-year career. It is Clarke’s seventh pro victory, but his first in the U.S.

As for Woods, he is taking two weeks off until the Bay Hill Invitational, March 16-19 at Orlando.

Maybe by then, his swing will be back in shape. “If you stood behind me on my shots and watch them, every one looked different,” he said. “That’s not the way I usually play when I’m playing well.”

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WEBB WINS ANOTHER

Karrie Webb won for third time in as many tournaments with victory in Australia.

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