Van Brimmer: Grand Slam goal sputters out
So much for Tiger Woods' Grand Slam.
It's done. Finished before it started, lost in the swirling winds on the slippery greens of Augusta National Golf Club.
Woods is seven shots off the Masters Tournament lead heading into the weekend. Masters champions have come from further back.
Jack Burke Jr. trailed Ken Venturi by eight strokes after three rounds in 1956, only to rally for victory. Venturi was just a 24-year-old amateur, though, playing in his first big tournament. He wouldn't turn pro until the next year or win the U.S. Open until 1964.
Burke caught Venturi with 71 in the final round. The amateur shot 80 in the final round and blew a four-shot lead on Augusta's back nine, a collapse often compared to Greg Norman's in his 1996 Masters loss to Nick Faldo.
Don't count on a similar choke by this weekend's frontrunners. Sure, leader Trevor Immelman is less intimidating than Oz's munchkins. Brandt Snedeker, alone in second place and six shots ahead of Woods, won't scare anybody, either.
Phil Mickelson is four shots clear of Woods. Mickelson has won two of the past three Masters, and memories of his gaffe on the final hole of the 2006 U.S. Open -- he led by a shot but made double bogey and lost -- will keep him focused.
Woods' greatest rival this weekend is probably himself. His game is off.
He hit a duffer's pitch shot into a greenside bunker on No. 2 on Friday. He puttered around the greens like a jalopy with sugar in its gas tank, needing 31 putts. He played lumberjack on the tee box, driving into the Georgia pines.
Woods seems mentally flummoxed by his predicament. He spent Thursday night lamenting the difficulty of the course, talking about how hard it is to make eagles and birdies and comparing it to a U.S. Open course.
Then 19 players finished the second round under par and Woods decided the track must not be that difficult. Somebody call Bill O'Reilly; Augusta National is turning into a spin zone.
"This course, you can make up shots quickly," Woods said. "Seven back on this golf course in these conditions, you can make that up."
Woods' confidence is not unfounded. He is skilled in Augusta comebacks.
He rallied from six strokes down after two rounds to defeat Chris DiMarco in 2005. He was four back of Vijay Singh in 2002. He was two behind DiMarco again in 2001.
He started the third round in fourth place or better all three of those years, however. Twelve players are in front of him this time, and Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh are among those even with him at 1-under par.
Woods might find his swing, putting stroke and concentration overnight, but the leader is lapping him and he's got too many cars to pass. His best hope is for bad weather to wash out part of his third round and allow him the chance to get on a 27-hole roll Sunday as he did in 2005.
That won't happen, though. His best chance for a Grand Slam is another Tiger Slam, starting with June's U.S. Open and ending here next April. This weekend will belong to someone else.
