Golf

Tiger not just good, he's lucky

A bizarre twist featuring a shot over the clubhouse allows Woods to escape with bogey and the lead.

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 26, 2006

AKRON, Ohio - Tiger Woods in the lead at Firestone is typical.

Woods hitting a 9-iron over the clubhouse roof and escaping with bogey because it was not marked out-of-bounds made the Bridgestone Invitational nothing short of bizarre Friday.

Woods birdied his first four holes and shot 6-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Davis Love, but what made the second round memorable was bogey on his final hole that left Woods feeling lucky after a strange sequence of events.

It started from the right rough on No. 9 when Woods hit a 9-iron from 167 yards that jumped out of the grass, soared over the flag and over the grandstands. It hit the concrete path and bounced over a balcony and onto the roof.

From the back of the clubhouse, Summit County Deputy Sheriff Bill Muncy noticed a ball bouncing around the service area below him and next to someone from the Firestone kitchen staff. The worker, Josh Stuber, put the ball in the cup holder of a cart and drove off to a villa.

"We were unloading pies on the back of the cart and we saw this golf ball bouncing by," Stuber said. "I said, 'Who's throwing golf balls at me?' I went down to the lodge, and the next thing I know, everyone is looking for me. They said, 'You stole Tiger Woods' ball.' "

Woods stood in the fairway for nearly 10 minutes before rules officials arrived and tried to figure out the next step.

Muncy, guarding the back door of the clubhouse, told rules officials what happened and they marked off Woods' distance as 97 yards.

There was no penalty because the grandstands were in the way. Woods got another drop from the cart path, and hit a lob wedge to 30 feet and two-putted for bogey to reach 9-under 131.

Players in the clubhouse had gone to the back door to see where it landed and shook their heads, muttering that the world's No. 1 player was also the luckiest because the clubhouse was not deemed to be out-of-bounds.

If that had been the case, he would have had to drop from the rough and play his fourth shot, and Woods might have been happy to escape with double bogey at best.

Stuber said he saw the Nike swoosh and One Platinum written in fine print on the ball.

"I didn't notice the TW," he said an hour after the round ended, holding the ball and turning it over to show something else that might have given him a clue - TIGER stamped on the other side.

"I thought for sure that ball must have been out-of-bounds," Woods said. "Then, it wasn't out-of-bounds. On top of that, we had to somehow find it. It was a huge break to get out of there with 5."

PGA: Bob Estes followed an opening 64 with 65 to get to 15 under, erasing the Reno-Tahoe Open's 36-hole record of 13-under 131. Estes is one stroke ahead of Will MacKenzie, who had a PGA Tour record-tying three eagles Thursday for 63 and added a fourth on Friday for 67 to get to 14 under.

CHAMPIONS: Bobby Wadkins birdied three of the last four holes to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of The Tradition, the final major of the season. Wadkins shot 5-under 67 for the second straight day in Aloha, Ore., to get to 10 under. Lonnie Nielson was at 7-under 135.

LPGA: The South Korean contingent once again leads the way at the Wendy's Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio, with Soo-Yun Kang and Jee Young Lee atop the leaderboard after the second round. Kang shot 6-under 66 and Lee had 67 to share the lead at 11-under 133. Seminole's Brittany Lincicome had 68 to be part of a group two strokes back at 135; Paula Creamer was at 136.

U.S. AMATEUR: Trip Kuehne lost 3 and 2 to University of Missouri senior John Kelly in the quarterfinals at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaka, Minn. Kelly advances to face Ryan Yip of Calgary in today's semifinals. Also advancing to the semifinals: Wake Forest junior Webb Simpson and Richie Ramsay of Scotland.

MID-AMATEUR: Winter Haven's Bruce Scamehorn shot 69 in Lakeland to lead 12 who advanced to the 25th Mid-Amateur Championship at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Five from the bay area qualified: Tim Hume, Tampa (72); Daniel Fischer, Temple Terrace (73); Matt Jozwiak, Wesley Chapel (73); Gary Cona, Valrico (74); Brian Keenan, Tampa, (74). Todd Webster of Tampa (76) is one of two alternates.

[Last modified August 26, 2006, 02:15:25]