From the Sidelines
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 22, 2000
MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 22, 2000
Tiger Woods has already shown he can give us great golf.
After this weekend at the PGA Championships at Valhalla, he has shown that he can give great drama too.
Woods’ battle with Bob May, a journeyman professional who had not won on the PGA Tour, should go down as one of the top 10 in the history of the sport. It might not be up there with Ouimet defeating Vardin and Ray in theU.S. Open or Nicklaus and Watson at both the British and U.S. Opens orNicklaus’ win at the 1986 Masters, but it was still one for the books.
This was a match that had more twists and turns than the 18-foot birdie putt that May sunk from the fringe on the final hole of regulation. That wasonly one of many clutch shots that both hit down the stretch on Sunday.
Going into Sunday, most figured it would probably not come down to the final holes, let alone a three-hole playoff. Not after Woods took a one-shot leadafter the third round. Simply put, Woods does not blow final round leads. Hehas now led 18 Tour events heading into the final day. He lost the first timeand has won 17 times since.
But May did something that no golfer had been able to do in the two majors leading up to the PGA – stay with Woods. After all, Woods had cruised to a15-stroke victory at the U.S. Open and an eight-stroke win at the BritishOpen.
Who is Bob May? He is a 31-year-old former Southern California junior tour star who has struggled on the professional level. He has played mostly on theEuropean Tour, finishing 11th last year in the Order of Merit rankings. Hisonly pro victory anywhere came last year at the British Masters.
But he looked like a seasoned winner Sunday. And had his four-foot birdieputt on 15 not pulled left, he might also be known today as a PGA Champion.
At the same time, Woods was drilling a 12-foot par putt to stay within one stroke. He would tie it with a birdie on 17.Both players hit the green with their second shots on 18 but both also left themselves long birdie putts. May somehow curled his in from the fringe,leaving Woods a tricky six-footer just to send the match into a playoff. ButWoods is not the best player in the world for nothing, sinking the putt just inside the left corner of the cup to force the tie.
May hit a shot on the first playoff that had it gone in would have ranked among the bets in the history of the game, a 70-foot chip shot from the rough that rolled to within a foot of the hole. Woods answered with a 25-footbirdie putt that gave him a one-shot lead.
In past PGA Championships, that would have been it. But this year, the PGAwent to a three-hole cumulative playoff that only added to the drama. Afterboth players parred the 17th, Woods, one of the best sand players in the game, chipped out of the sand to within four feet. That meant May had tosink a 40-foot putt just to tie. He nearly did but had it break at the lastminute.
The victory put Woods up there with Ben Hogan as the only players to have won three majors in a season. It also made him the first player since DennyShute in 1937 to win consecutive PGA Championships.
May may not have won the Wanamaker Trophy Sunday. But by sticking with aplayer who is fast becoming the best of all time, he showed that he was also a champion.
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