Tiger hunts elusive 15th major trailing after third round

GULLANE, Scotland — You can make the argument when it comes to the final round in major championship golf, there is much less pressure on the pursuer than the player being chased.

In the case of Tiger Woods, though, it has been the opposite.

Woods has won each of his 14 major championships having taken the 54-hole lead into the final round. In all 14, he has played in the final group.

Woods, quite simply, is the greatest front-runner of all time in his sport. He may be the greatest closer ever in any sport — with the possible exception of Mariano Rivera.

Woods, however, has yet to prove he can come from behind to win a major.

Today’s final round of the 142nd British Open at Muirfield needs to be the time for him to do it. If he is unable to overcome the two-shot deficit to leader Lee Westwood, you have to wonder what kind of psychological toll it will take on Woods as it prolongs his drought without winning a major.

Five years ago, when Woods won his last major, staggering away from Torrey Pines with a stress fracture and knee ligament damage in his left leg, none of us were sure whether or not he was human. He was that good, looked that invincible.

We have since learned Woods does, indeed, bleed — he is just as infallible (if not more) as you or I.

Whether or not he chooses to admit it publicly (which he will not), the five years and counting Woods has gone without a major championship has taken years off his life — professionally and personally.

Woods has absorbed enough body blows in major championships the last five years to know, with each one that passes without a trip to the winner’s circle, it is becoming increasingly possible he will not break or even tie Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships. He must even wonder in his darkest moments if he ever will win another one.

Today is time for Woods to return the brilliance to his already brilliant career. It is time for Woods to show he can come from behind. This is about the only thing missing from his résumé of remarkable accomplishments.

When Woods was asked after yesterday’s round whether he might be in a “better position’’ to win than Westwood is with the lead, he said, “I don’t know. I’ve got 14 of these things and I know what it takes to win it.’’

Woods is well aware Westwood is vulnerable. The Englishman has played in 61 major championships without a victory and has finished in the top three seven times.

Westwood has his share of scar tissue with which to deal today.

He suffered heartbreak in 2009 in the British Open at Turnberry, where he faltered late in the final round to fall short of the playoff between Tom Watson and eventual winner Stewart Cink. He has had a couple of sniffs at the green jacket at the Masters and failed to close.

He, too, fell short of that U.S. Open playoff between Woods and Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines in 2008, when Woods won his last major. Westwood played in the final group with Woods that Sunday and could not make enough putts to hang with him.

Yesterday represented a significant breakthrough for Westwood in that his 70 bested Woods by two shots, positioning himself with the two-shot lead today.

“I figured if I was going to win this tournament I was going to have to beat Tiger,’’ Westwood said. “It generally works like that, whatever tournament you’re playing in that he’s playing in.’’

Woods knows, among the others on the leaderboard, Westwood will be a formidable foe today. He is a major obstacle standing in the way of the 15th major that continues to elude and madden him.

“[Westwood] has won tournaments all over the world,’’ Woods said. “He knows how to win golf tournaments. He’s two shots ahead and we’re going to go out there and both compete and play. I’m looking forward to the challenge of it. I’ve been in this position before, in the past five years. I’ve been in that hunt, in that mix, and I’m in it again.’’