Hazeltine up Woods’ alley – PGA Championship
CHASKA, Minn. – As has been since the first round, this is Tiger Woods’ PGA Championship. Along with his many skills, there is one other reason to suspect so: Hazeltine is just about tailor-made for him. Especially the fairways. They’re wider than usual at a PGA.“They’re about two to three yards wider,” said Kerry Haigh, the PGA official who sets up the course. But it wasn’t set up that way for Woods, he said.
“Every course is different,” Haigh said, “with different configurations, different features.”
Woods seems to be more accurate than usual in this tournament, and in addition, he’s hitting to fairways that are more forgiving. The 12th, for example, is 34 yards wide in the strategic area, which is perhaps six or seven yards wider than most others.
So add Woods’ distance to his accuracy, to a first cut of rough that has been more forgiving, and you’ve got Tiger Woods’ PGA. Maybe.
THE RAINMAN COMETH – Henrik Stenson, the mostly naked Swede, just chuckled at the notion that rain was forecast for Sunday’s final round. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’m waterproof.” The reference was to his display at the ca Championship at Doral in March, when he stripped to his shorts to hit a shot out of a water hazard.
Stenson, who won the Players Championship in May, stayed at least within sight of the PGA Saturday with a one-bogey 68 for a 4-under 212 total. “I started off a bit funky,” he said, that being a bogey at No. 1 when he left his first putt 5 feet short. Then he birdied Nos. 2, 3, 7 and 9 to turn in 3 under, then added another at the 15th. “It could have been one or two better,” he said, “but overall, I’m very happy with the day.” He tied for fourth last year, his fourth PGA.
THE SANDMAN FALTERETH – Northern Ireland whiz kid Rory McIlroy ran badly afoul of Hazeltine’s bunkers for a 1-under 71 for a 1-under 215 total. “I felt as if I’ve played better than a 71,” he protested to himself, after getting stuck under the lips of two bunkers, getting plugged at the par-3 13th, and then buried at the 15th. “I couldn’t even see my ball,” he said. “Instead of making three or four there, I made six.”
GAME (NOT) ON – Phil Mickelson, making just his second appearance after taking two months off after his wife’s cancer surgery, is still looking for that combination. “I didn’t hit the ball very well today, either, and I didn’t make very many putts,” Mickelson said, after shooing a 4-over 76 Saturday, his worst round in a PGA since 2002. “But I feel like I’m getting on the right track, at least, and hopefully I’ll get it figured out over the next week.”
Did Mickelson really expect much of himself? He’d taken off after the U.S. Open in mid-June, and both his wife and mother had breast cancer surgery early in July. Said Mickelson, who’s at 8-over 224 going into the final round: “I’m disappointed with my performance this week, regardless of what’s going on, on or off the course. I still have high expectations.”
FROM THE LEFT – Left-handed Steve Flesch dominated Hazeltine going out, making four birdies for a 32, and held on for a bumpy finish of two bogeys, a double bogey and three birdies (including a chip-in at the par-3 13th) for a 3-under 69. “I made a bunch of mistakes and I was glad to shoot under par,” Flesch said. “I haven't played that well this year, so it’s nice to play well on the Saturday of a major.” He’s at even-par 216 for three rounds.
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