Another Slam Dunk

A 49-minute weather stoppage on the back nine at Bethpage Black on Sunday sent players scurrying into shuttle vans and running for cover, yet it ultimately only delayed the inevitable.

The end game here was neither a major revelation nor a clarion call, but another hard dose of reality. And, inevitably, all of those desperately waiting for a contender to step up to golf’s tee box may need to consider a 12-step program.

For while a bawdy hey-youse Long Island gallery threw its considerable vocal support to a birthday-boy underdog from San Diego, Phil Mickelson, it was the front-runner raised up the coast in Cypress who continued his assault on his sport and the history books.

Tiger Woods not only won the 102nd U.S. Open on Sunday, he won it almost wire-to-wire and raindrop-to-raindrop, under cloudy skies and clear. He shared or held the lead outright on the last 67 holes.

He led the tournament from Thursday afternoon to the end of “60 Minutes.” He shot two-over-par 72 on the final day and ended on a bogey downer, but the bottom line is all Woods has ever counted.

Woods’ four-round total of 277 left him at three under overall and provided him a three-shot victory over Mickelson, who shot par 70 on Sunday and finished even at 280. Jeff Maggert finished five shots back at 282, and Sergio Garcia ended up fourth at 283.

In earning his eighth major professional victory, Woods has now moved past Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer into a fifth-place tie with Tom Watson on the all-time list.

Only Jack Nicklaus (18), Walter Hagen (11), Ben Hogan (nine) and Gary Player (nine) have won more major titles than Woods.

“As a kid, you just dream of winning one,” Woods said. “It’s so hard to describe how good it feels to win a major championship, because it takes so much out of you.”

Imagine what it takes out of everyone else?

Is he already the best ever?

“I don’t know,” Woods said. “I’m only 26, it’s not like my career is over.”

Is he the best ever?

“That’s not really a conversation I want to be a part of,” Mickelson said.

Is he the best ever?

“You know, it’s safe to say that he’s the greatest player his age that’s ever been,” Maggert said. “I don’t think you can compare it to Nicklaus or Hogan. He’s got 20 years ahead of him. There’s just no telling what he can accomplish over the next 20 years.”

Is he the best ever?

“I tell you one thing,” Garcia said. “It doesn’t get much better than this. He’s just unbelievable, and he’s just able to do whatever it takes.... But he’s still human. And he showed it. He showed it today and I had my chance, and I didn’t take it.”

Woods has now won seven of the last 11 majors played and is halfway toward winning golf’s Grand Slam, with the British Open and PGA Championship upcoming.

Woods already has won all four majors in succession, the so-called “Tiger Slam,” but has not won all four majors in the same calendar year.

“It’s certainly doable, because I’ve done it before,” Woods said. “To win all four in a calendar year I think it would just be different.”

Woods also became the first player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year since Jack Nicklaus in 1972.

On a course that had been called penal and brutal, and a lot of things worse than that, Woods was the only player on Bethpage Black to finish under par.

He did not hold off Dick Dumwitty for the title either.

Woods held off his two most formidable challengers, Garcia and Mickelson, and pretty much held them off the way Lennox Lewis held off Mike Tyson.

Was there ever a doubt?

Oh, sure, the way there’s doubt the sun might not rise.

Woods opened final-round play with a four-shot lead and proceeded to bogey the first two holes to allow both Garcia and Mickelson to pull to within two shots, with plenty of pasture left to play, yet neither man could jam a club face into this cracked window of opportunity.

“I felt it would be a day he would be catchable,” Mickelson said.

Garcia thought he saw a crack after Woods dropped two shots on the first two holes.

“I thought he’s a little nervous,” Garcia said. “He felt the pressure too.”

But it was Garcia and Mickelson who cracked.

Mickelson mustered another run on the back nine, closing to within two shots after he birdied the par-five 13th hole, but Woods took the shot back when he birdied the 13th while Mickelson made par on No. 14.

Woods basically sealed the tournament on the 15th when he made par on the difficult par four while Mickelson was making bogey on No. 16.

That exchange extended Woods’ lead to four shots with three to play.

Garcia fancied himself a threat to Woods after he gave Tiger a run at the 1999 PGA Championship, yet it hasn’t exactly played out to script.

Garcia started play Sunday one under par and four shots back of the leader but ended with a not-so-beautiful fade at four-over 74.

Mickelson, who turned 32 Sunday and was a story everyone appeared ready to embrace, showed flashes of brilliance but appears doomed to his fate as the boyish, multimillionaire, jet-plane flying also-ran.

He ran his streak to 0 for 40 in major championships, and walked away again feeling as if it was OK and the way it’s always going to be.

“This was certainly not a disappointing day today,” Mickelson said. “It was one of the most exciting days that I’ve ever had in the game of golf.”

The day started with a buzz and the keen sense this might be the day someone--anyone--might be able to catch Woods on the final day of a major tournament.

The gallery sang “Happy Birthday” to Mickelson as he approached the tee box at No. 1.

“It’s your day,” one burly man burped. “Let’s go Tiger hunting,” offered another.

Mickelson drilled his tee shot and made birdie on the par-four first hole to go one under for the tournament and accepted a couple of Fathers’ Day gifts when Woods bogeyed the first two holes.

Before you could say Eldrick, Woods’ lead had been trimmed to two shots over Garcia and Mickelson.

There also was an interesting dynamic between Garcia and Woods, paired in the last group and flanked down the fairways by their respective girlfriends, tennis star Martina Hingis and Swedish bikini model Elin Nordegren.

Garcia suggested Friday afternoon’s rain-drenched play would have been suspended had Woods been on the course. He also said Woods was a lucky golfer.

Both men downplayed tension between the two.

Garcia even tried to play peacemaker, offering Woods his scoring pencil at the first tee box. Once play began, though, Woods did not make eye contact with Garcia after the Spaniard wondered if he was in Woods’ putting line on the green.

At least Garcia was trying.

After Woods’ second shot on the par-five fourth hole launched a huge divot into a sand trap, Garcia bounded into the bunker, retrieved the sod and tossed it to Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams.

Whatever works, right?

“Being four shots behind, you usually don’t win against a guy like him,” Garcia said. “But I’m proud of myself. I think I did well. I couldn’t try any harder. Maybe I tried too hard.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

BY THE NUMBERS

8 - Number of majors Woods has won.

4 - Number of golfers who have won more majors (Jack Nicklaus, Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player).

18 - Majors won by Nicklaus, the all-time leader.

7 - Top-three finishes in majors by Phil Mickelson, tying Harry Cooper for most by a golfer who hasn’t won a major.

5 - Golfers who have won Masters and U.S. Open, the first two legs of the Grand Slam, in the same year.

8-0 - Woods’ record in majors when leading after three rounds.

24-2 - Woods’ record as a pro when leading any tournament after three rounds.

52 - Consecutive PGA Tour stroke-play events in which Woods has finished in the top 30.

18 - Of those 52, numbers of times he has won.

88 - Consecutive PGA Tour events in which Woods has made the cut, third all-time (Byron Nelson, 113; Jack Nicklaus, 105).

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THE FINISH

Tiger Woods...-3

Phil Mickelson...Even

Jeff Maggert...+2

Complete scores...D10

GRAND START

Golfers who have won the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year:

CRAIG WOOD

1941

BEN HOGAN

1951, 1953

ARNOLD PALMER

1960

JACK NICKLAUS

1972

WOODS

2002

CAREER MAJORS

Golfers who have won all four major championships, with total wins:

NICKLAUS--18

Career Slam age: 26

BEN HOGAN--9

Career Slam age: 41

GARY PLAYER--9

Career Slam age: 29

WOODS--8

Career Slam age: 24

GENE SARAZEN--7

Career Slam age: 33

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*--* TIGER WOODS’ STATS SHEET ROUND 1 2 3 4 T +/- Par -3 -2 Even +2 -3 Score 67 68 70 72 277 Average drive 271.5 270.5 284.0 296.0 280.5 Fairways hit 11/14 9/14 9/14 12/14 41/56 Percentage 79% 64% 64% 86% 73% Greens in regulation 13/18 12/18 13/18 15/18 53/72 Percentage 72% 67% 72% 83% 74% Putts per round 28 27 32 36 30.75 Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 Birdies 5 4 2 2 13 Pars 11 12 14 12 49 Bogeys 2 2 2 4 10 Double bogeys 0 0 0 0 0 Par 3’s -1 +1 -1 Even -1 Par 4’s -1 -2 +1 +3 +1 Par 5’s -1 -1 Even -1 -3

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*--* ALL-TIME MEN’S MAJOR TITLES Player Masters U.S British PGA Total Jack Nicklaus 6 4 3 5 18 Walter Hagen 0 2 4 5 11 Ben Hogan 2 4 1 2 9 Gary Player 3 1 3 2 9 Tom Watson 2 1 5 0 8 Tiger Woods 3 2 1 2 8 Bobby Jones 0 4 3 0 7 Arnold Palmer 4 1 2 0 7 Gene Sarazen 1 2 1 3 7 Sam Snead 3 0 1 3 7 Harry Vardon 0 1 6 0 7

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