Sport
Tiger Woods draws attention at Pebble Beach
That’s the effect Woods has this week at Pebble Beach.
It’s not unusual for him to start a PGA Tour season along the Pacific coast, though it’s usually at Torrey Pines. And there is a certain magic about Woods and Pebble Beach, which has been a big part of his career even though he has won only twice, both in the same year.
The first was the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and it’s a timely memory considering the last two weeks have featured wild comebacks and ugly meltdowns. Brandt Snedeker came from seven shots behind at Torrey Pines to beat Kyle Stanley, who made triple bogey on the final hole; then Stanley came from eight shots back and won in Phoenix after Spencer Levin shot 75.
Woods was seven shots out of the lead with seven holes to play in 2000, and still looked to have no chance until he holed a wedge for eagle on the 15th, nearly holed another shot on the 16th and beat a fast-fading Matt Gogel.
“I was just trying to somehow get in it,” Woods recalled. “All of a sudden, boom! Three shots, two holes, I’m back in the ball game.”
It was even more significant because that was his sixth consecutive PGA Tour win.
Then came the greatest single feat of his career that summer in the U.S. Open, a major where Woods was at the absolute apex of his game. On a course so difficult that no one else broke par, he shot 12-under 272 and won by 15 shots.
Now, the mystique has given way to curiosity.
