Tiger Hunt

If there was ever an opening to catch Tiger Woods Friday at the PGA Championship, it came in the first couple of holes. Woods started the second round at Hazeltine by doing something that he had not done at any point in round one.

Exceeding par.

But the first hole was more of an aberration than a rule as Woods took further command of a major that, going into Saturday, he seems destined to win. After following up the mistake on the first with four pars, he birdied six and seven to erase the mistake on one. Two more bogeys and three more birds left Tiger at 2 under par for the day and seven under par for the tournament. He sits four shots up on five players who are tied for second.

I’d like to sit here and write that the tournament still has multiple contenders and the battle on the weekend will be one we’ll be talking about for years to come. Only problem is, I don’t think that’s true. The idea of Tiger being on a mission at Hazeltine looks to be coming true. A four deficit against a player this good playing this well may be too much to ask from anyone of the five “contenders” left log-jammed behind Tiger.

Padraig Harrington did not have nearly the round yesterday that he needed to in order to keep up with Woods. Harrington shot a +1, 73 to drop into the second place tie. After a slip up on the third hole, Harrington looked to be chugging along with five pars and a birdie in the next six hole. Than he stepped into the tee box at 11 and his shot at keeping pace with Woods slipped away.

Three consecutive bogeys followed by another one at 18 made the final nine a very frustrating one. I still think he has as good a chance as anyone to compete, but will need to put together two phenomenal rounds. Again, whether or not he’ll be able to do that depends on whether or not you believe that Padraig has finally fixed his game.

Vijay Singh, who’s sixth place finish at the Crowne Plaza marked his best week of the year, will get the honor of playing with Tiger later today. Singh shot a second round 72 to finish at even par in round two. It was certainly not a great round, but coupled with his day one 69, it’ll do. Singh had three birdies and three bogeys.

Today’s round will say a lot about Singh. His ability to play well with Tiger threatening to break the week wide open should be a difficult task. But besides Harrington, Singh is the most apt to handle that kind of atmosphere.

The best day of anyone chasing Tiger belonged to Ross Fischer. The Englishman shot a -4, 68 to charge up the leaderboard. Fischer was impressive all day, notching six birdies and only two bogeys. What was scary about Fischer’s round was that it should have been even better. If not for bogeys on the last two holes, Fischer was looking at sole possession of the Tiger chasing position at a number that would have been a lot less daunting than four shots back.

If you want to go for the hot hand in tomorrow’s Tiger hunt, go with Fischer. No one else played as well as him yesterday. You know you played well when -4 doesn’t do the round justice.

U.S Open champ Lucas Glover and Brendan Jones had identical -2 scores to add themselves to the second place brigade. Glover had the same amount of birdies as he did in round one, but cut his bogey count by one to march up the board.

Jones had a very steady round. It was defined by a eagle on the par four fourteenth. Never heard of Jones? I don’t blame you. He is an Australian who plays mostly oversees. The PGA is only his second tournament of the season. His first one came in February when he finished 33rd in the WGC-Accenture match play championship.

Not exactly a house hold name. I wouldn’t expect him to stay in it.

It may not matter for any of these players today. If Tiger keeps playing like he is, I don’t think any of these five can put together a round to catch him. That would have to be one incredible round. But if anyone can do it, it will be Paddy Harrington. Despite the one over round yesterday, you can see that his game has turned a corner. His round was not spectacular, but he still managed to knock in a few incredible shots. After one such shot, Woods remarked to him that he would “pay money” to see him make it again.

However, while us observing may think we see the “writing on the wall”, those five all got up this morning thinking that they can win. All of them may not completely believe it, but they all have hope.

And when your play major championship golf against a player like Tiger, that’s what it’s about.

The thrill of the chase.

Jordan Lauterbach