Tiger Has Margin for Era

Here on the Old Course at the British Open there is dense gorse, there is bushy thistle and there is Tiger Woods. You get tangled up with any of them and you’re in big trouble.

Balmy weather and Tiger bombs were once again the order of the day in the third round of the 129th Open, where Woods moved one big step closer to his second major title in two months.

After completing Saturday’s third-round 67 that was downright stunning in its precision and simplicity, the 24-year-old Woods begins the final round with a six-shot lead over David Duval and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and is only 18 holes away from becoming the youngest player to win the four majors.

Think Woods can do it? Did Old Tom Morris have whiskers?

Woods was asked how he felt about having a six-shot lead going into the last day.

“It’s not bad,” he said.

Woods’ six-shot lead equals the third-largest 54-hole advantage in British Open history. Henry Cotton led by 10 shots after three rounds in 1934 and Tony Lema had a seven-shot advantage in 1964.

Woods is 16 under par at 200 and within range of Nick Faldo’s British Open record of 18 under, set in 1990 on the Old Course.

Woods has proved to be extremely proficient at closing out tournaments. He has held the 54-hole lead in 20 events worldwide and his record in those tournaments is 18-2.

Woods says he is going to keep his focus on the moment, not on any possible history lesson.

“The bigger the lead, the more pressure you feel,” said the man who has won the U.S. Open by 15 shots and the Masters by 12. “Obviously, if you don’t end up winning . . . you’ve let a wonderful opportunity go . . . but I’ve had big leads before and I’ve been able to succeed.

“I understand what it takes to play in the final round of any tournament. You can’t let yourself look ahead to the final outcome because if you don’t take care of the present, the final outcome may not be what you want.”

So far, the three-round outcome is one long Tiger Tale.

Tom Lehman, who shot a two-under 70, was eight shots back and totally frustrated.

“I’m just getting lapped,” Lehman said.

He wasn’t the only one. Yes, Duval matched the low round of the tournament with his 66, but picked up only one shot.

Ernie Els faltered on the back nine and is tied for seventh at eight-under 208, the same as Lehman, Dennis Paulson and Steve Flesch. Each one of them shot under par Saturday and lost ground to Woods.

The only one of the nine players closest to him who made up any ground was Duval.

He is ranked No 2 in the world, second to Woods, but Duval said there is no question the proper player is No. 1. When Duval looks at Woods, he notices something unique to the top performers in any sport.

“All the great champions have the ability to channel it more, if you will,” Duval said. “I don’t think you get immune to pressure. I think you feel it, but you learn what it feels like and you learn how to use that.

“Butch [Harmon] said something like this was the most nervous he had seen [Woods] the start of the week. Obviously, he’s not. But what he’s so good at is using it to his advantage. That’s what Jack Nicklaus has done, Nick Faldo has done, Joe Montana, John Elway.”

The huge general-admission grandstands on the back nine were filled to capacity hours before Woods would pass by. Galleries estimated at close to 50,000 jammed the Old Course to follow his progress on his way toward the history of golf’s major championships.

Woods played his first seven holes in par and saw his three-shot lead shrink. He even made a bogey, his first after 63 consecutive holes in a major without one, when he three-putted at the second hole.

And when David Toms, playing with Woods, birdied No. 2, he was only one shot behind.

But Woods knocked a six-iron stiff at No. 8 and tapped in a two-footer for birdie to get his lead back to two shots, now over Flesch and Els. One hole later, it was a three-shot lead again when Woods coaxed in a bumpy, rolling 15-footer for his second consecutive birdie.

Els dropped two shots at the 314-yard No. 12 when he drove into the gorse, took a drop, reached the green and then two-putted for double bogey. Woods drove the 10th, but couldn’t get his 10-foot birdie putt to fall and wound up with a three-putt par.

Through 11 holes, Woods’ lead was still three shots and it was four shots when he birdied the 12th. Woods nearly drove the green, then chipped up to three feet and made the putt to go to 14 under for a four-shot lead.

One hole later, Woods’ lead was five. At the 13th, Woods sent his ball on a 20-foot ride across the green and into the hole.

One hole after that, Woods’ lead was six. He reached the par-five 14th in two with a three-wood and two-putted from 40 feet for birdie, his fifth in a seven-hole stretch.

At the 16th, he saved par by dropping in an eight-footer. At the 17th, his seven-iron second shot bounced on the front part of the green and then skipped over the top of the slope of the Road Hole bunker, where golf balls go to die. From 30 feet, Woods three-putted for bogey.

He finished with a fist-pump on the 18th, rolling in a 10-footer from left of the hole for his seventh birdie of the afternoon.

Woods was asked if that putt was the biggest shot of the day.

“I think it is big because I didn’t have to hit another one,” he said.

If things keep going like this, he won’t have too many more to hit today either.

Duval was already in the locker room after finishing with a five-foot birdie putt at the 18th.

Bothered by a painful muscle strain in his back, Duval will be paired with Woods in the final group of the day.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “This is kind of what you try to build your schedule for and what you try to prepare yourself for.”

And Woods prepares himself for something else. He has a chance at history, by winning at the British Open, where the game’s greatest players have gained stature with victories . . . Jones and Hagen, Armour and Sarazen, Snead and Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus, Trevino and Watson. Maybe today they will add a Tiger to the list.

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ON PAR IN MAJORS

Tiger Woods’ streak of holes with a par or better ended at 63 Saturday. If Woods holds on to win the British Open, he will be the reigning champion in three majors, the others being the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. Here is how Woods has fared in the three majors this year, by round:

*

MASTERS

1. 2 bogeys, 1 double, 1 triple 75

2. 4 bogeys 72

3. 2 bogeys 68

4. 2 bogeys 69

*

U.S. OPEN

1. 0 bogeys 65

2. 4 bogeys 69

3. 2 bogeys, 1 triple 71

4. 0 bogeys 67

*

BRITISH OPEN

1. 0 bogeys 66

2. 0 bogeys 67

3. 2 bogeys 67

LEADERS

Par 72; Through 54 holes

Tiger Woods 67-66-67--200 -16

David Duval 70-70-66--206 -10

Thomas Bjorn 69-69-68--206 -10

Darren Clarke 70-69-68--207 -9

Loren Roberts 69-68-70--207 -9

David Toms 69-67-71--207 -9

Steve Flesch 67-70-71--208 -8

Dennis Paulson 68-71-69--208 -8

Tom Lehman 68-70-70--208 -8

Ernie Els 66-72-70--208 -8

Phil Mickelson 72-66-71--209 -7

Jose Coceres 74-66-69--209 -7

No More

Amateur Hour

Influenced by Woods and Garcia, 1999 U.S. Amateur champion David Gossett, who missed the cut at St. Andrews, will turn pro at the International. Page 11