Was that an amazing Sunday?
As Paul Azinger said as they started back nine coverage, "I foresee an eight-way playoff." There were that many people in contention. Lee Westwood, not hitting a fairway on the front nine, but hanging onto the lead until Adam Scott took it with a run of birdies around the turn. Tiger hanging there, with the announcers, rightly, intoning "he's only 2 (or 3) behind". Hunter Mahan. Henrik Stenson, and, of course, Ian Poulter, though they exaggerated the likelihood he'd end up in a playoff at +1.
Then along came gun-slinging Phil. Birdie on 13. Birdie on 14.
Then he pulls the classic Phil -- blows the birdie putt on 15 too many feet by. Rut ro. No one with his record misses more puts like this. Then he makes it -- a swirly -- and goes to 16, where he backs the shot off the green. And makes the 7-footer for par. It's his to win.
No one can express how crazy the two 3-woods he hit to the green on 17 were. Into the wind, over the bouncy ground. No one else had gotten there. Phil had an eagle putt.
Then he goes ahead and makes the birdie putt on 18. He didn't need it, but nothing like making it look good, right?
It was a bad day for Tiger. Everyone used to talk about how he "scared" the other players (a tough thing to do in golf, btw); well, guys who scare you don't bogey the opening hole. They just don't. That's not called momentum.
And once he made his first birdie, he turned around and missed a makable birdie putt on the next hole (the 10th) that would have gotten him right there. Missed it.
Tiger Woods circa 2000-2005 doesn't miss that next putt. He makes it and charges. As Westwood was going bogey-bogey, no birdie on 9, behind him.
He's not that Tiger Woods anymore.
The new one seems to have trouble putting four good rounds together at a major. Today's 75 was a disaster -- he shoots par and he's there at the end. Does Phil pull off those shots to beat Tiger? We'll never know.
But here's what Muirfield says about Tiger: he may never get 15. He is the world #1, but that's not winning majors. He's a horse for courses -- he'll probably win at Firestone next month, since it's one of his horsey courses -- which can mean a lot of wins. But only at Augusta, the one major that stays at one locale, does this play in his favor. When's the next US Open at Pebble or Torrey? Or British at St. Andrews (okay, just two years)?
I'm not going to be surprised to see him use his experience and knowledge to pull "a Nicklaus" and win a green jacket to cap his career, but he'll have to win somewhere else to prove he has any chance to get to 18 majors.
The other telling round was Lee Westwood. Two stroke lead, putting better than ever. And he's got a bigger lead as no one moves on him early in the day -- failing to go hot on the first 5 holes, which was the logic of the week.
He didn't hit fairways early, didn't make putts late.
If this is about horses, you would never bet on Westwood again (to win). Not all maidens win their first one; he might be a good place/show bet but win? He's had more top 3's in majors than anyone since they started playing the Masters and hasn't won. It says "won't win." He's 40. Yeah, maybe next year, or the next, he continues the Open trend of 40-something winners, but he's no Ernie Els or Phil Mickelson. He may be Darrin Clarke, but is that a trend to count on?
After how he finished the US Open, you can't believe Phil isn't going to be totally psyched to return to Oak Hill, where he played his first home Ryder Cup, with a claret jug in hand. He's playing with house money, and we know how Phil loves to gamble.
It was a great day of golf, with one man making almost all the great shots. He deserved to win. And Muirfield proved itself again to be a course that finds Hall of Famers to win.
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