Skip navigation
Site powered by
Latest news:
msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines: Violence widens ahead of Greek austerity vote

Blogging Tiger: Great putting can cure all ills

Final round: With knee hurting, Woods uses play on greens to save the day

Special feature
U.S. Open Championship - Playoff Round
Tiger's greatest shots
A look at some of the most memorable moments at majors for Tiger Woods

NBCSports.com

Third round on Saturday, holes 14-18
The U.S. Open is over, isn't it?

Unless a certain knee totally gives out, we know where the trophy's going.

Tiger Woods is being, well, Tiger Woods again.

What else can you say about that finish?

He either walks away with the trophy, or he doesn't walk away at all, because it seems the only way he doesn't win is if he leaves on a stretcher.

Five down with six holes to play Saturday, Woods walked off with the lead.

"Wow" is the only way to describe it.

Woods seemed destined to seize the lead because that birdie at the 17th was lucky. Even Woods said so. From the greenside rough, he chopped a chip that bounced once, hit the flagstick and disappeared in the hole.

There was nothing lucky about anything else Woods did today.

The closing eagle at the 18th didn't just put him in the final pairing. It put him in control. We know how important a lead is to him. He has won all 13 of his major championships with the lead or a share of it going into the final round.

Third round on Saturday, holes 7-13
Whoa, here we go again.

Tiger Woods gave it the double uppercut with his eagle at the 13th hole.

Another Tiger roar rocked Torrey Pines when he rolled in a monster putt for his second eagle there in two days.

Woods went from five behind Rocco Mediate to three back. The roar made Mediate back off his putt on the hole behind Woods.

Woods needed that eagle with little happening in his round.

Just when Woods looked like he might be mounting another run with his first birdie of the day at the seventh hole, he missed a golden chance for another birdie at the ninth to get back under par for the championship.

So hot with that putter Friday, Woods three-putted the ninth, missing a 5-footer for his birdie chance.

Woods made the turn with a 37 on the front nine, seven shots worse than he played that nine a day before.

The surgically repaired left knee isn't causing any visible problems for Woods, but you have to wonder about how the knee will affect his endurance.

With another bogey at the 12th, Woods fell five shots behind Mediate.

Really, if you look at the leaderboard, Mediate's the only player getting much distance on Woods. Mediate has never won a major but is a proven winner. Woods has to be thinking about getting into the last pairing with Mediate. Head to head, Woods is hardest to beat. With the circus that follows him, with his great distance advantage on the short-hitting Mediate, it would be a large factor. It will be harder for Mediate to win from the same pairing.

Then again, there's six holes to go today.

Much can still change.

Third round on Saturday, holes 1-6
Maybe Tiger Woods is saving his best for late in the day again.

Because Woods is stinking it up early Saturday at the U.S. Open at 3-over through his first six holes.

A day after he tore up the front nine at Torrey Pines, which actually was his back nine on the round, he's struggling on those same holes.

This isn't good given Woods' history in major championships.

His history says he can't win a major if he isn't leading going into the final round.

He won all of his majors with the lead or a share of it through three rounds.

Of course, it's hard to believe that really matters given his history on this course and his history of doing what nobody's ever done before.

It's early, and everyone may back up past Woods, because Rocco Mediate is the only player in the final 14 groups under par so far today.

Woods isn't limping the way he did Friday, but he used a pair of clubs like crutches to get out of the bunker at No. 3.

Woods made double bogey at the first hole for the second time in this championship. He doubled it in the first round. It's his third double bogey of the championship. Just as he did Thursday, Woods blew his third shot at No. 1, a pitch, over the green and couldn't get up and down from back there. He also bogeyed the fourth, failing to get up and down.


advertisement
Latest golf video
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am - Preview Day
Getty Images
Will Tiger win again?
The Masters is going to be huge for Tiger Woods, but don't expect him to be the player he once was.

Slideshow
Jack Nicklaus
  Top 10 'accessible' golf courses
From California to Florida, these amazing greens are open for anyone to play.

more photos

Special feature
U.S. Open Championship - Final Round
Past champions
Take a look at the men who have hoisted the U.S. Open trophy.

NBCSports.com

Special feature
Jack Nicklaus
U.S. Open history
Take a look at the highs and lows of the U.S. Open.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: Snee, 8, son of New York Giants player Chris Snee and head coach Coughlin's grandson plays in the confetti after the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots in the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game in Indianapolis
  The Week in Sports Pictures
The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more.

more photos

Special feature
U.S. Open Previews - Day Three
Tiger's U.S. Open victory
Images of Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open

NBCSports.com