KEY POINTS:
Tiger Woods was a hair's breadth away from setting yet another record - the lowest score ever hit in a major - and still took what seems to be a stranglehold on the PGA championship at Southern Hills yesterday.
Woods' putt on the 18th seemed to be heading
straight into the cup for a magical round of 62 - which would have been the lowest round of golf ever scored in a major. Woods and most of the watching gallery and television audience thought the 15ft putt was in, but it horse-shoed out at the last second.
"It was a 62 and a half," said Woods. "I hit it a little bit firm but I thought I made it because it was breaking at the end. I knew it broke a lot more at the end than at the beginning.
"It started diving. Evidently it didn't want to go in."
It left him part of a group of 21 players who have hit a 63 in a major - with Greg Norman (Australia) and Vijay Singh (Fiji) the only players ever to do it twice. Thomas Bjorn of Denmark was last to achieve the feat, posting the score in the third round of the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol.
Woods' round - with eight birdies and one bogey - lifted the world number one to six-under-par 134, two strokes better than fellow American Scott Verplank, who shot a bogey-free round of 66. Australian Geoff Ogilvy (68) and Canadian Stephen Ames (69) were tied at 137.
For a year to be 'great' in Woods' eyes, it has to include a major and he had missed out on each of the first three.
Long motivated by tournament victories, and especially the record 18 majors held by his childhood idol Jack Nicklaus, Woods was delighted to have taken control at Southern Hills.
The game's leading player has triumphed seven times out of seven when holding at least a share of the 36-hole lead in majors.
"That certainly does give you confidence, there's no doubt," he said. "I know what to do. It's just a matter of going out there and doing it.
"We've got a long way to go. We're only at the halfway point. I need to continue to do what I'm doing. I know there are a lot of guys playing well, and hopefully I can play a little bit better."
Woods said he had played almost as well on Thursday when he opened with a 71. "As I said yesterday, I hit the ball better than my score indicated. And I felt good about today because I hit the ball well yesterday."
Graeme Storm, the man who had been six ahead of Woods overnight, took a slide with a second-round 76, while John Daly, who had opened with a 67, was headed in the same direction. Daly was in and out of trouble on his way to an outward 37.
Yet it has to be said that he was still exercising more control than most had anticipated. Only yesterday did it transpire that Daly had called upon TV cameramen to give him a beer at the halfway stage of his 67.
At a time when the BBC and other TV channels are held to be less than responsible, this particular crew did something to balance the ledger. They said no to beer but offered him water.
Players who have shot 63 in a major, by tournament
Masters
Nick Price (Zimbabwe)
1986, nine under
Greg Norman (Australia)
1996, nine under
US Open
Johnny Miller (US)
1973 (Oakmont), eight under
Jack Nicklaus (US)
1980 (Baltusrol), seven under
Tom Weiskopf (US)
1980 (Baltusrol), seven under
Vijay Singh (Fiji)
2003 (Olympia Flds), seven under
British Open
Mark Hayes (US)
1977 (Turnberry), seven under
Isao Aoki (Japan)
1980 (Muirfield), eight under
Greg Norman (Australia)
1986 (Turnberry), seven under
Paul Broadhurst (Britain)
1990 (St. Andrews), nine under
Jodie Mudd (US)
1991 (Birkdale), seven under
Nick Faldo (Britain)
1993 (Royal St. Gg's), seven under
Payne Stewart (US)
1993 (Royal St. Gg's), seven under
PGA Championship
Bruce Crampton (Australia)
1975 (Firestone), seven under
Raymond Floyd (US)
1982 (Southern Hills), seven under
Gary Player (South Africa)
1984 (Shoal Creek), nine under
Vijay Singh (Fiji)
1993 (Inverness), eight under
Michael Bradley (US)
1995 (Riviera), eight under
Brad Faxon (US)
1995 (Riviera), eight under
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain)
2000 (Valhalla), nine under
Mark O'Meara (US)
2001 (Atlanta Athletic), seven under
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)
2005 (Baltusrol), seven under
Tiger Woods (US)
2007 (Southern Hills), seven under
- Reuters
