Woods not happy at Tour Championship

2007-09-16

Share this article:  Digg |  StumbleUpon |  del.icio.us |  Reddit

By Andrew Both PA SportsTicker Golf Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) - The Tour Championship has turned into theBob Hope Classic, and Tiger Woods is not happy.

After taking a three-shot lead following the third round onSaturday, Woods said the East Lake course was probably theeasiest he had ever encountered in more than a decade ofprofessional competition.

Woods knows that officials had little choice but to heavilywater the greens, severely stressed by record summer heatrecently, but that doesn''t mean he likes it.

"I can''t remember too many courses easier than this one," hesaid after shooting an effortless 6-under-par 64.

"I prefer not to play it like this. I prefer courses where, youshoot something in the 60s, you''ve earned it. That''s why I lovethe U.S. Open so much. You shoot a round in the 60s there, man,you''ve thoroughly earned it. When you get greens this soft and pins this easy and greens this slow, you''re going to have a bunch of birdies. You fire at every flag, even if you have a 5-iron."

The average score through three rounds was 67.7 strokes, withonly two players going into the final round over par.

On Saturday, Zach Johnson smashed the course record by twostrokes with a round of 60, and seven others shot 65 or better.

Scores in one of the tour''s more prestigious events have beenmore reminiscent of the annual Bob Hope Classic in theCalifornian desert, where the winning score routinely is30-under, sometimes lower.

Woods had a seven-foot birdie chance at the last to tie therecord low score on tour for the first 54 holes of a tournament.

However, he uncharacteristically missed it on the low side,posting a 19-under 191 total to end the day with the samecushion as he started it, although his closest pursuer changed,with Mark Calcavecchia (63) charging into second place on16-under.

If he wins on Sunday, as seems highly likely, Woods will claimhis 61st PGA Tour title, just one less than Arnold Palmer, whois currently fourth on the all-time list.

But Palmer will retain fourth spot at least until the end of theyear, because Woods will not play again this season, much tothe relief of the tour''s bottom feeders.

Woods, by the way, defended fellow competitor Woody Austin, whowas questioned by officials over an incident at the 15th hole.

Television replays showed an angry Austin slamming his putterdown behind his ball for a tap-in. It looked perhaps that Austinmissed the ball as he tried to jab it in, but he claimed not,and Woods backed him up.

"He was fine," Woods said. "There was no rules violation fromwhat I saw. The putter basically just planted in the ground andhe tapped it in."