Tiger extinguishes challengers to win 10th major
IN: News | European PGA | British Open (2005) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 18 Jul 2005
The final day of what had already been an intriguing Open Championship promised much as the early field headed out on day four. Some of those groups gave a further indication of what the day promised.
Ernie Els, who much of the talk had been about early in the week, finally got something going when he birdied six of the first ten holes but faded over the closing nine to finish with 70. Graeme McDowell, who had started four and a half hours before the final pairing was around in 67 to move to six under and had opened the opportunity of a top ten finish.
What all this indicated was that once again St Andrews was prepared to yield for golf of the highest order but was laying in wait for the slightest mistake. That was always the way it should be and later in the day the final leaderboard reflected a golf course that had produced not only the world's best golfer as its conqueror but one that had seen many of the most experienced players in the world rise to the top over the final day. The collective years of experience amongst the top ten players at the completion of the Championship bore testimony to that.
At 2:00pm (11:00pm AEST) Tiger Woods and Jose Maria Olazabal set out on a journey that would likely see one of them arrive at the destination as the 2005 Open Champion.
Within just a few holes it appeared that the event had developed into a three horse race. Woods, Montgomerie and Olazabal had broken clear and when the leading pair reached the 9th tee, the early exchanges had been evenly shared.
Montgomerie made the first move when he birdied the 3rd to move to ten under and within two of Tiger, who had made a solid if unspectacular start. Montgomerie would make another birdie at the 5th after missing a good eagle chance from 22 feet and at 11 under, the difference was just one.
Olazabal birdied the fourth after missing an opportunity at the 3rd and he too was within one. Woods two putted from 60 feet for his first birdie at the 5th but Olazabal, who missed the green just right, was unable to get up and down and Woods had opened up a two shot break again.
Montgomerie closed within one when he birdied the 9th after a brilliant tee shot to 30 feet gave him a chance to joint the lead if he could hole it for eagle. He two putted and when Woods did the same ten minutes later, Woods had moved two ahead of Montgomerie and three ahead of Olazabal.
Woods gave his chasers a brief ray of hope when he bogeyed the 10th after driving it in the bunker and was forced to hit out sideways. His par putt from 12 feet missed and it was game on again but only briefly.
Montgomerie's brave challenge received a setback when he bogeyed the 11th after he was long with his tee shot at the par three and then he all but lost hope when he bogeyed the 13th after a second shot was hit fat, perhaps from an awkward lie. He was now four behind and the task for both he and Olazabal, who was suffering his own problems with a bogey at the 12th after a wild tee shot, had become too great.
The mood of the tournament changed at that point and with the challengers all but extinguished, Woods knew what he had to do. With a four shot lead it would take only self-discipline to close the event out, especially for one who has done it so often, and he set about just that. He birdied the 13th while Olazabal bogeyed and he then had a four shot lead over Montgomerie, who had three putted the 14th for par, and five over Olazabal.
Woods' tee shot at the 14th was perfect and very long but he would surprisingly take an iron with his second perhaps looking to take the front bunkers out of play and eliminate any potential risk. After all he could easily afford to do so. He then hit a superb shot from a grassy lie short of the green to seven feet and when he made that he had the cushion to die for.
Woods made a solid two putt par at the 15th and although he flirted with the out of bounds fence with his approach at the 16th he made a fine par save to maintain his now six shot lead. At the 17th he took iron from the tee and placed it perfectly along the right hand side. His approach came up a little short and fed down to the left of the green. Not wishing to take any chances, Woods took the safe and perhaps only option putting it up to the right of the flag and although he missed his putt from 15 feet he was enjoying the moment.
His par at the last, after leaving it in the Valley of Sin with his second, saw him finish five shots ahead, not as great a margin as in 2000 but maybe, just maybe, more fulfilling. When asked later if his win answers the critics he has had in recent years for rebuilding his swing when it appeared he was tinkering with perfection, he answered in the most candid of fashions. "I can't say on television." Clearly he is enjoying answering the critics in the best way possible - by making them eat their words.
Of the challengers, Montgomerie, perhaps more than any of the other performances in his recent resurgence showed that he is back close to where he was when he dominated European golf for so long in the 1990's. His outright second place was far and away his best Open Championship performance and a confidence building one at that in a time where he is emerging from one of the dark periods in his life. Forgotten now are the rumours and innuendo that surrounded his ball dropping incident in Jakarta earlier in the year and he can now focus on getting back to the top of European golf.
Olazabal, who only just made it into the event after initially failing to qualify at the International Final Qualifying, was valiant in defeat. He will be disappointed with his homeward nine of three over but his swing looked as good as ever and like others who performed well this week he can take much from such a good week on such a great course. Perhaps, surprisingly his share of third, was only his second top ten in nineteen Open Championships and equaled his best finish behind Faldo in 1992.
While the early battle for the title had focused for much of the day on the three leading contenders at that point, there was plenty of activity behind. Fred Couples final round of 68 saw him move into a share of third, which was his 9th top ten in 15 starts in this event, one of the best records of those who have not won the event.
Bernhard Langer contended briefly when he reached 9 under through nine holes but when he double bogeyed the 15th his brave challenge was gone. A birdie at the last saw him reach seven under and a top five finish was a fine result for the 47-year-old.
Sharing fifth place with Langer was Michael Campbell, who was once again in the thick of a major finish, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen who again suffered from the last round blues, Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilvy.
Ogilvy, who had missed the cut in his two previous Open Championships, was perhaps surprisingly, but nevertheless deservedly, the best of the Australians when he reeled off six birdies in the last twelve holes to finish in a share of fifth. He dropped three shots early on the final day but his comeback was sensational and his weekend total of 136 (-8) was far and away the best of the field. It will be a performance that will prove invaluable in terms of confidence when he heads back to the US.
Ogilvy headed the Australians but again Mark Hensby was brilliant in his first time in the event. Just as he had at the Masters and the US Open he had a stunning debut and while he will rue his second round of 77, his comeback was very impressive. Nick O'Hern shared 15th place with Hensby and he has had not only his best Open Championship, but his best finish in a major.
And so what now for Tiger? As Jack Nicklaus bowed out of tournament golf at this level with an emotional day on Friday, Tiger looks increasingly as if he is headed for the title of the greatest ever. He made reference to great man in his acceptance speech acknowledging Nicklaus as the "greatest champion ever". While it would be frivolous to suggest that Tiger's march to that position in the game is automatic, he is clearly on track and it may just be that only a lack of desire will stop him. He has shown however that desire is very much part of the Woods makeup. He has, after all, taken one step back to go two forward in recent years and suffered from the barbs of many in doing so.
Whatever the future holds in that regard the 2005 Open Championship should be remembered for not only a brilliant and emphatic victory by Woods, but the final chapter in major history for the man who has not only won the most major titles, but who dominated in terms of his consistency of top finishes. When one door closes another opens as they say and it might just be that this one that Woods walked through today has been opened very wide.
