Tiger Does It Again at Bay Hill
This isn't a regular edition of "Pafcenter" because yesterday, Sunday, wasn't a regular day for Jen or myself. We were in Orlando to say goodbye to Jen's grandma, who along with her husband Roy, was heading back to Ohio at the end of the week. That was part of our reasoning. The other reason for being in Orlando was to attend the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and boy are we glad we did.
By now, you've all heard what happened in the darkness on the 18th green a couple of minutes before 8 pm. But what I'll tell you is of our entire experience yesterday watching history again with Tiger Woods.
When we woke up to rain across all of Central Florida, we were concerned not with getting wet, but rather the tournament's final round being delayed. We decided to leave Grandma Mart's house at around 11 am, which was right when the first groups were scheduled to tee off. On our way to the parking lot at Universal Studios, we checked the Internet and learned that the start-times were delayed up to 90 minutes because of the rain. Tiger, who was in the final threesome, though 5-shots behind, was not scheduled to tee-off at 2:35. It was raining off-and-on throughout our drive to the parking lot, and when we parked, it wasn't raining, but it was a tad chilly, so Jen got a sweatshirt from the surf shop at Citywalk. We got on the bus and were shuttled to Bay Hill.
Upon arrival, it was easy to see that despite the poor weather, the crowd was large, due in part because of Tiger's prescence in the final group. We went and watched guys on the putting green, including Jen's new second favorite, Tim "Lumpy" Herron. She couldn't believe that somebody who walks as much as a golfer could be that big. After about an hour, Stevie Williams made his way to the putting green, toting the black bag with AT&T logo, and Frank the Headcover sticking out the top. A familiar silhouette came strolling down the corridor near the clubhouse and onto the practice surface. Tiger had arrived, and the crowd around the green was three and four deep.
After watching Tiger putt some, we went and got a bite to eat and a drink before making our way near the first tee to watch some of the other groups head out. We moved further down the first fairway before Tiger's group got to the tee for its 2:49 start time. When Tiger is playing, it is virtually impossible to follow him shot-for-shot, so you have to pick your spots and your shots. Tiger made par on the first hole, but we had moved to the second green by then. We watched as Tiger stuck his approach to about five feet, then knocked in the birdie putt. Sean O'Hair, who was winning by 5, parred and was ahead by four. On the third, Tiger made another birdie, and watched as O'Hair bogeyed, so after three holes, the five-shot lead was cut to three.
Tiger drove the ball into the left woods on the fourth, and Jen and I were within five feet of him as he smacked an iron from the light pine straw back toward the green. It was awesome. After that shot, we made our way to the par-3 7th, where Tiger made birdie, while O'Hair bogeyed again. Tiger made the turn with a two-shot deficit, but we knew he had a good chance with nine to play.
We skipped ahead to the fairway at the 10th and watched them tee off, before heading to the green on the 13th, which was right next to the par-three 14th. Tiger was down by a stroke heading to the par-four 15th, and Jen and I had a good spot among the thousands at the right of the green. Tiger rolled in a long birdie butt to tie O'Hair with three to play.
We skipped to get our spot on the 18th fairway and eagerly waited to see the scores posted on the big board. Before it went up, we knew that O'Hair hit into the water on 16th and that Tiger had parred, giving him a 1-shot lead with two holes left. Then we knew that Tiger bogeyed 17, putting them both at -4 heading to the 18th. When they put Tiger's score on the board, the crowd was stunned but could sense the excitement then soon be witnessing.
Both O'Hair and Zach Johnson, the third member of the group, were in the fairway, and Tiger, playing last, striped his ball right down the middle. Johnson hit to the back of the green, playing first, and then gave way for the drama. O'Hair's ball cleared the water and landed well left of the flag, about 30-35 feet away. It was Tiger's time. The crowd was huge and the light was dimming. Tiger did what we expected, and stuck his approach pin high to about 15 feet. The crowd was going wild.
On the green with the light fading fast, the thought of a 1-hole playoff tomorrow morning was in everyone's mind. O'Hair sized up his putt, and we couldn't see the hole from where we were, but we knew based on the crowd that it didn't go in. He putted out for his par. It was Tiger from 15 feet for the win. As he was over his putt, someone yelled from across the lake, so he backed away. As he made contact, the flash bulbs around the green went wild, and he started him familiar backpedal. Bottom of the cup, Tiger fist pumps and jumps into Stevie's arms and the crowd is going balistic.
For those that saw it on television, it was very exciting. For Jen and I and the thousands in attendance, it was electric and amazing and historical and, well, there aren't enough adjectives to describe it.
Stay tuned later in the week for the next episode of "Pafcenter", talking about the Final Four, the NHL coming down the home stretch, and our predictions for the 2009 baseball season.
