Nothing's been decided halfway through the Tour Championship

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-09-25

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

Tiger Woods 2009 is golfing his ball better than anyone else, hitting shots that few of his competitors can even dream of and with 36 holes of a tournament in the books, he’s in the lead by a single shot.

The pre-2009 TW would have been far enough ahead by now that the trophy engraver could have already started his work. But this, boys and girls, is not THAT Tiger, it’s the one who actually blew a 54-hole lead in a major.

That’s not to say that Woods won’t win the Tour Championship Sunday afternoon at East Lake Golf Club near Atlanta. He’s the odds-on favorite to win the $1.35 million winner’s check and the $10 million bonus as FedEx Cup champion.

But it looks as though the pattern he’s established over the course of the 2009 PGA Tour schedule. Even though he’s won six times, this was not the dominant Tiger Woods we’ve come to know and admire. Obviously, he’s still better than everybody else on Tour, but the gap is not nearly as wide as it once was.

Blame that on the nine months of inactivity following reconstructive knee surgery or how that new knee has performed or whatever other reason you’d care to cite. Bottom line is some of the luster of the Tiger aura is missing this year.

(And yes, I’m well aware that he blew the field away in the BMW Championship last week.)

What happened in the second round Friday might be the perfect microcosm of Woods’ season. He was on his way to separating himself from the other 29 elite players in the field with three birdies to end the front nine.

He comes to the par 5 15th and, after a great drive, rips a 5-wood up the hill on a great line. The shot narrowly cleared a bunker, hopped onto the green and rolled to within four feet of the cup. He hit another great shot on the next hole, watching it stop inside four feet from the hole. Considering Woods was ranked first on Tour on putts between four and five feet, having missed only seven of that length all year.

Guess what? He didn’t make either. As a result, Padraig Harrington crept back into it, setting up another duel between the two starting this morning. Tied with Harrington in second place is Sean O’Hair, who has been near the top of the leaderboard both days.

"The day as a whole was a good day," Woods said. "I shot under par, and I got myself ... in the lead. Today's round probably could have been one or two better, for sure. But overall, I'm very pleased with my scoring the first two days."

Harrington and Woods will be paired together for the ninth time this year, including five times in the last two months. And while the veteran Harrington is surprised by little any more, he did express a bit of shock at Woods’ pair of misses.

"Obviously, I didn't expect him to miss two in a row," Harrington said after a 69. "I looked up at the stats on the board just before he hit it, and he's No. 1 from that range. I don't think he misses two in a row all year. That's probably for sure he hasn't missed two in a row on the year. So it was a surprise."

Woods “only” shooting 67-68 has kept a big chunk of players in the tournament. Ernie Els posted five birdies over the last 10 holes to shoot 66 and is two shots behind Woods at 137. Kenny Perry also had 66 and is in at 138, tied with Jerry Kelly, who showed 67.

Three major champions were another shot back at 139: Angel Cabrera (Masters) shot 67, Lucas Glover (U.S. Open) 71 and Stewart Cink (British Open) shot 72.

Missing among the top 10 names on the leaderboard are the next four seeds in the field who can win the FedEx Cup with a victory.

"If I win this golf tournament and Tiger finishes second ... I'm going to be throwing a big party and jumping with joy," O'Hair said, knowing that a win and Woods finishing in at least a three-way tie for second would give him the Cup. "If I don't win the 10 million bucks, I should have played better. A win is a win. Let's face it, I've got to win this golf tournament to win the $10 million. If I do my job, that's all I can do."

Today’s third round will have a bit of an unusual twist. Because of an ugly weather forecast – that features thunderstorms and more than 1 ½ inches of rain – officials moved tee times up nearly three hours. The first group leaves the tee at 8 a.m. and the leaders at 10:20.

Start a Feedback Thread Or Talk About This Article

About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

Mike's Most Recent Features

Will Michelle Wie now go to the next level? - I can’t say that I’m a huge Michelle Wie fan.

She’s a gifted golfer and, even at 20 years old, has shown glimpses of the talent we’ve heard about for the last 10 years or more. So I do have t

Some familiar names fail to keep PGA Tour cards for 2010 - The 2009 “regular season” on the PGA Tour is over.

So is the Fall Series, the add-on to that regular season, made up of tournaments with lesser purses but, at the same time, provide those who

Mickelson sets stage for dramatic 2010 - Soooooooooo, while those at the pinnacle of the PGA Tour’s food chain finish off their 2009 season with a lucrative week in China, those desperately trying to get a foot in the door at the bottom end

Tour players forced to mingle ... and don't like it - I’ve said this before and probably will say it many, many more times.

In a lot of ways, I respect professional golfers much more than a lot of other athletes in the “play for pay” business. A

GolfCourt anyone? An idea with real 'net' merit - Look around your town or city and if you don’t readily find a tennis court that’s greatly underused or overgrown, you’re in a rare locale.

Those tennis courts are the target of a creation kno

Smith adds to Western Pa. golf lore with Mid-Amateur triumph - Pardon me while I wax parochial for a few words.

I am a life-long resident of western Pennsylvania, an area of the world that lacks the sunshine and warm weather of some parts of the world, b

Thoughts to live by when planning a golf trip - It’s my opinion, and one that’s widely shared among those who have ever participated in a golf trip, that what happens in the days and months prior to the trip itself is critical to the success of the

Woods perfect, U.S. wins President Cup - Sometimes, things are almost too good to be true.

I mean, seriously. The world’s best player, who took a long time to warm up to these team championships, providing the Presidents Cup-winning

U.S. leads Presidents Cup ... but not by much - Two days into the eighth edition of the Presidents Cup, things are just about where they should be.

The United States team has a 6 ½-5 ½ lead over the Internationals, built in large part in t

Games can add to golf trip excitement - In Part I of this series, I regaled you with a Reader’s Digest version of a four-man golf trip to central Florida, a trip that had only a bit of drama and was pretty much straight golf. No games, no b

Home - More Golf News & Reviews
Start a Feedback Thread Or Talk About This Article

Didn't find what you need? Try our site search:

Golfsmith Tennis - Best Brands, Best Prices