Lurking Tiger plus monster course equals delicious drama

OAKMONT, Pa.

If a perfect storm is about a high-pressure system running into raging winds and then colliding with a hurricane, this year's U.S. Open has presented golf fans with the definition of a perfect Sunday:

Tiger Woods in the final pairing and alone in second, two strokes behind the leader. Both of them colliding with one of the toughest courses in major championship history.

It's much better this way.

It could have been over late Saturday afternoon, but where's the fun in that?

You take any hint of drama with Woods nowadays like you might an opportunity to never again hear the name Paris Hilton -- however you can get it. The fact Woods will try to come from behind on a Sunday to win a major for the first time, a challenge he has failed at in 28 previous attempts, is all we can hope for in this age of Tiger domination.

The leader who will hope to deny Woods a 13th major is 26-year-old Aaron Baddeley, who sits at 2 over par and owns two PGA Tour victories, or 55 fewer than Woods. Baddeley can draw confidence from a few truths beyond what has been a sharp enough game to shoot par each of the last two days on the brutal Oakmont Country Club track.

1. Woods when not leading a major following 54 holes is hardly Bill Clinton with a driver. He's not the Comeback Kid.

2. Just two months ago, in a little Georgia town called Augusta, a humble Midwestern lad named Zach Johnson outplayed Woods on Sunday to win the Masters, proving the toughest opponent for the world's best player isn't always himself.

"To be honest, if there is one player in the field I'd like to play with in the final round, it's Tiger," Baddeley said. "A few years ago, I was struggling and not playing well and didn't have the character to be able to stand up under the pressure. But I have that now."

We'll see. It's almost sad that the most we can hope for at majors is someone being better than Woods over the final few days. Years later, we're still awaiting a rival capable of consistently challenging his standing as the world's best, the kind of link that has defined so many of the great individual matchups in sports history.

Nicklaus had Watson. Ali had Frazier. McEnroe had Connors. Evert had Navratilova. Heck, even Kobayashi has Joey Chestnut.

Ernie Els couldn't be it for Woods. Neither has Sergio Garcia or Phil Mickelson.

No, today's final pairing is the summit of present-day majors. It's doesn't get any better. Crazy, but it almost didn't happen.

Take out a tape measure and draw a line about 24 inches long. That's pretty much the combined length of how close four birdie putts and one eagle chance came to dropping for Woods on Saturday, which would have put him in the same neighborhood as the final-round 63 Johnny Miller posted here to win the Open in 1973. Woods finished with a 1-under 69, and playing partner Nick Dougherty said it easily could have been 6 under.

Woods hit nine of a possible 14 fairways and 17 greens. If he doesn't two-putt on all but one hole, today's final round is nothing more than a celebratory stroll for the soon-to-be dad on Father's Day.

Be thankful those putts didn't drop. Woods is perfect in winning 12 majors when leading entering the final round. Where's the fun in that?

"He was awesome," Dougherty said. "Tee to green, he is phenomenal. Brilliant. If he plays like that (today) and makes some putts, no one will catch him.

"It will take someone pretty special to beat him."

Maybe it will be Baddeley. Or maybe Paul Casey or Stephen Ames or Justin Rose or Bubba Watson, all three shots off the lead. Maybe among a group of five players with a combined four PGA Tour wins and eight missed Open cuts exists another Zach Johnson at the Masters.

"They're going to deal with emotions that they've probably never dealt with before and things that -- it helps to have experience," Woods said. "I've been there before. I know what it takes."

It has been said a hurricane contains enough energy to meet the electrical needs of the United Kingdom for a decade. That's a pretty big storm.

Today, golf presents its own kind of imposing tempest, otherwise known as the perfect Sunday: Woods in the final pairing, alone in second, two strokes behind, a monster of a course awaiting.

It's much better this way.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.