Golf

Tiger posed no playoff threat

Despite being only two shots off the PGA lead, Tiger Woods flew back to Florida Sunday night.

By BOB HARIG
Published August 18, 2005

Some wondered if Tiger Woods would show up at Baltusrol Golf Club on Monday morning to hit balls, sending a message to those who still had holes to play in the PGA Championship that he'd be waiting for them if they faltered.

Woods never showed, so he must have watched from his rented house in Springfield, N.J., right? Or maybe he had the engines revved up on his private plane at the Newark, N.J., airport, ready to peel back to Baltusrol if warranted.

Turns out, Woods was watching at a gym ... in Florida.

After finishing at 2 under par Sunday before weather pushed the conclusion of the final round back a day, Woods surmised his chances to end up in a playoff were remote. Phil Mickelson was at 4 under with a 3-footer for par on the 14th hole. Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn were at 3 under. So Woods went home.

"They're not coming back," said Woods, who admitted leaving was a risk ... sort of.

"Yeah, it was. But also it really wasn't, either," Woods said Wednesday at the NEC Invitational in Akron, Ohio. "These are the best players in the world. Look at who's on the board. ... "If you had guys who had never been there before, then it might have been a different story. But every one of those guys had won major championships."

Actually, Bjorn has not won a major. And Elkington has gone 10 years since winning the PGA, and six years since winning a tournament.

Mickelson made one bogey and one birdie coming in to win by a stroke over Elkington and Bjorn and by two over Woods and Davis Love.

[Last modified August 18, 2005, 01:05:19]