Leonard Has the Wind and Woods at His Back

Trying to find something Tiger Woods hasn’t done in golf is about as tough as finding Phil Mickelson’s name on a major championship trophy, but consider this statistic provided by the bureau of birdies and bogeys:

Woods has never come from behind after three rounds to win a professional major championship, yet that’s the challenge he faces today in the final round of the 84th PGA Championship.

On a day when the wind blew so hard at Hazeltine National Golf Club it played more like AuGUSTa, Justin Leonard shot three-under-par 69 Saturday to go nine-under 207 through 54 holes and takes a three-shot lead into today’s final round.

Rich Beem, who was part of a five-way tie for the lead after the second round, shot even-par 72 and is three shots back at 210, followed by Fred Funk at five-under 211, followed by Mark Calcavecchia and Woods, five shots behind at 212.

Woods’ quest for his ninth major title, and his third this season, is still in play, yet his nickname in majors has never been the Comeback Kid.

Woods either led or shared the lead after 54 holes in all of his eight major titles and he has never finished second. For what it’s worth, Jack Nicklaus finished second 19 times.

Woods’ general pattern at big events has been to get the lead and hold on or fade out of contention before the final round.

Exceptions? Woods trailed Payne Stewart by two shots entering the final round of the 1999 U.S. Open and finished third.

Woods was five behind at the 1998 British Open, fired a final-round 66, but missed making the playoff by one shot.

Can Woods do here what he has never done before?

“Yeah,” he said flatly.

Woods will have to draw inspiration from his amateur days. In 1994, he came from six holes down with 11 to play to defeat Trip Kuehne at the U.S. Amateur championship.

That was match play, of course, and the players got to wear shorts.

Today, Woods, in slacks, must track down Justin Leonard, a great wind player who won the British Open in 1997.

“There’s only a few guys ahead of me,” Woods said. “I just need to go out there and play solid.”

Woods said he was going to play it safe today, though Leonard isn’t buying it.

“You know Tiger is going to go out and shoot at the pins,” Leonard said.

Saturday’s third round did not quite measure up to the brutal third round at this year’s British Open, yet wind gusts of 40 mph did make par a good score.

Woods shot even-par 72 and was almost giddy.

His day started with an early wakeup call and then a wallop, as Woods first had to play the last two holes of his second round, bumped into Saturday because of weather.

After hitting into a fairway bunker on the par-four 18th, Woods laced a 200-yard three-iron to the heart of the green and then made birdie to finish at four under, only two shots off the lead.

Woods’ third-round wind strategy was to play it safe, and he made good on that promise by making 11 consecutive pars before making birdie on the par-five 11th hole.

A player who normally dominates the competition with his play at par-fives, Woods has played the long holes this week at only four under.

Woods made a dramatic par save at the par-four 16th hole after jerking a nine-iron left of the green. His chip out of the rough was poor, but Woods made up for it by rolling in a 30-foot putt.

Woods thrust his hand into the air after the make, which kept him within three shots of the lead, yet he lost momentum on the 18th with his lone bogey of the day.

Woods’ errant tee shot ended up near a white picket fence next to a corporate tent, but after making a brilliant recovery shot to the fringe, Woods hit only an average chip and missed his par putt.

“Any time you end with a bogey, it’s always disappointing,” Woods said.

Especially the way Leonard was closing, which was fast.

While Woods was speaking to reporters in the media tent, Leonard was wrapping up his 69, the best round of the day.

After playing the front in even-par 36, Leonard scorched the back in three-under 33, making birdies No. 10, 15 and 16.

If you look at it logically, today’s final round could come down to a Leonard-Woods showdown on the back nine.

Both have won major titles in tough conditions.

At the time Leonard won his British Open, he and Woods were tied for major titles with one apiece.

Much has changed since.

“When you look at who has won majors in the last five years, since ’97 at Royal Troon, there’s probably one player that really sticks out,” Leonard said. “So, yeah, I would say it’s a lot more difficult to win majors than it was five or six years ago.”

Beem is only three shots back, yet he might not have enough Pepto-Bismol to calm his stomach today.

“Instead of one swig, I’ll probably take a couple of them and I’ll probably do it in the locker room so nobody sees how big a swig,” Beem said, “but I think it’s going to be more than one.”

Beem’s game held up wonderfully under pressure Saturday--his even-par 72 matching Woods’ round--yet you wonder how long he can keep his knees from knocking.

Even Beem wonders.

He has only two wins on the PGA Tour and started to wilt a bit near the end Saturday with bogeys on No. 14 and No. 17, which dropped him from eight under to six.

“I don’t discount the fact I can play with these guys,” Beem said, “but to win a major, you have to have something special, and I don’t know if I have it.”

Fred Funk? He’s 46, and has never won a major. He had to play five holes to finish his second round early Saturday, started the third round tied for the lead, thanks to a spectacular hole-out on No. 7, and ended it four back after his shaky, one-over 73.

The gallery has clearly taken to Funk--”It’s a Funk Fest out there or something,” he said--and he has already had a week to remember.

But as to actually winning?

“It would be an incredible thing,” he said. “I wouldn’t need to do anything else.... I couldn’t even put words on it.”

Calcavecchia, 42, won the 1989 British Open but hasn’t sniffed the leaderboard in a major this year until now.

He started the day in the five-way tie at six under, but his two-over 74 left him five shots back and listing a bit.

“I’ll regroup,” Calcavecchia said. “Five back, though, is a long way. Justin is playing some very good golf.”