The New York Times-20080127-Woods Leaves Rest of Field Running for Cover

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Woods Leaves Rest of Field Running for Cover

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As Tiger Woods built his lead at the Buick Invitational from formidable to insurmountable on Saturday, the storm clouds building in the skies over the Pacific Ocean went from threatening to ominous. The big storm, if it does come ashore with predicted rain of one to two inches and high winds, seems about the only thing capable of delaying Woods's date with the 62nd trophy presentation of his PGA Tour career.

The likelihood of one of the golfers in the field catching Woods -- who has a career record of 41-3 when holding a 54-hole lead -- is roughly akin to Noah's Ark washing ashore in La Jolla cove. In a bogey-free turn around the South Course at Torrey Pines, Woods fashioned a round of 66 that doubled his overnight lead, from four strokes after two rounds to eight after three.

His 18-under-par 198 total tied the tournament record for 54 holes. It was further under par than his 72-hole total for his last three Buick Invitational victories and left his competitors almost in a state of awe.

He played phenomenally, said Stewart Cink, who shot a 69, which included a 40-foot putt for eagle on the final hole, to pull to eight strokes behind at 206. If you ask him -- the scary part is, if you ask him -- he probably would say that he played somewhat conservatively. But he put six birdies and no bogeys on us, and we were just trying to catch up.

Cink was correct in his assessment of how Woods might sum up the round.

Well, I drove it a lot better today and hit some good iron shots, Woods said. I made some putts here and there. But I really lag-putted well. I didn't really try and fire at a lot of flags today.

The PGA Tour rules official Mark Russell was equally conservative in his assessment of the dire forecast.

We don't have a very good weather forecast for tomorrow, he said. It's national news. Our meteorologists say we can expect from an inch or two of rain possibly, but hopefully it'll get out of here in the morning and we can play some golf in the afternoon.

Russell said a Monday finish would be an option if Sunday's round was washed out. He added that the only way the tournament would be shortened to 54 holes would be if the course was saturated and the forecast for Monday was for more of the same. Woods's eight-stroke lead would not be factored in to any decision.

No, there's no mercy rule, Russell said. We're not playing Little League baseball.

Assuming Woods is able to resume his merciless pummeling of the assembled professionals, expect him to play as well as he has all week. Thus far, he has one bogey, which is the key to his dominance.

I've made only one bogey, he said. That's basically it. I'm sure some guys have made just about the same amount of birdies as I have, but I've only dropped one shot.

His guess was off, only his second mistake all week. His 19 birdies are 3 more than the 16 made by Camilo Villegas, who is at 211.

What counts now is the magnitude of the number. The last golfer to lead a PGA Tour event by eight strokes after 54 holes was Phil Mickelson, at the 2006 T.P.C. at Sugarloaf, in Georgia. He went on to win that event, and the Masters the next week.

Woods has had three 54-hole leads larger than this: 10 strokes at the 2000 United States Open, which he won by 15, and 9 at the 1997 Masters and the 2000 NEC Invitational, both of which he won easily.

More interesting is what Woods will set up when this tournament finally is in the books. The United States Open will be played at Torrey Pines in June, and the last time the Open was played on a tournament course in the same year that course held a PGA Tour event was 2000. The course was Pebble Beach, and the winner of both events needs no introduction.

Tiger Woods.

[Illustration]PHOTOS: Tiger Woods doubled his lead, to eight shots, at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, the site of this year's United States Open. (PHOTOGRAPH BY HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES); Stewart Cink shot a 69, closing with an eagle, but marveled at Woods's round. We were just trying to catch up, he said. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW GOMBERT/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY)