LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — The words came from someone very much in the know during a conversation on the Royal Lytham driving range yesterday morning.
“Whoever’s going to win this golf tournament,’’ Butch Harmon said, hours before the leaders were to tee off in yesterday’s Open Championship third round, “is going to have to beat Tiger Woods.’’
Harmon’s words seemed to be directed two ways.
As Woods’ former coach, Harmon was indicating Woods is closing in on finding his major championship winning form.
And, as Adam Scott’s former coach (a much more brief and less successful relationship than with Woods), Harmon was indicating Scott was going to have to overcome Woods in today’s final round if he was going to win his first career major.
So, as late afternoon fell with the sun blazing over England’s Fylde Coast, the most delicious scenario of the golf tournament was sitting up like a Titleist on a tee: Woods and Scott were on a collision course toward the final pairing in today’s final round.
That would have meant Woods and Scott, along with Scott’s caddie, Steve Williams, whom Woods fired amid controversy last year, would be together in today’s last group.
There was one problem, though: Woods didn’t hold up his end.
While Scott forged to his four-shot third-round lead by shooting a 68 to stand at 11-under, Woods stumbled on his way home, missing a five-foot par putt on No. 15 to fall out of the final-pairing at 6-under as Graeme McDowell snuck in at 7-under.
Buzz kill.
Woods never would admit this publicly, but he was desperate to get himself into that final group with Scott for two reasons:
l He would love to stick it to “Stevie,’’ as he always affectionately referred to Williams, who after he was fired, called Woods a liar (among other things).
l He believed he could, as a 14-time major winner, stare down Scott, who is trying to win his first, in that final group.
Woods, however, has lost that aura of intimidation he always used to carry like a 15th club in the bag. He still can growl like an angry tiger, but his staying power isn’t what it used to be.
Take, as an example, the U.S. Open, when Woods looked like a lock to win after the first two rounds at Olympic Club before quietly falling from of contention during the weekend.
Here at Lytham, Woods made a loud statement at the end of his round Friday when he holed out for birdie from a greenside bunker on 18 only to bogey two of his first three holes yesterday.
Then, after carding three birdies to get himself to 7-under at the turn, Woods started leaving putts short on the final few holes and, by the end of the day, it cost him that critical final pairing with Scott.
“I had a few looks on that back nine and just didn’t make them,’’ Woods said.
He did take solace in his comeback from the 2-over start in the first three holes.
“Well, I turned it around,” he said. “I got off to an awful start and battled back and got myself right back in the mix again going into tomorrow, and I’m right there.’’
Woods, who has shot 67-67-70, has nothing to be ashamed of with his performance this week, nor is he out of the tournament.
There was just one thing missing from Harmon’s words yesterday morning: Much like Scott and the rest of the players with a chance today, if Woods is going to win, he, too, is going to have to beat Tiger Woods.