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Saturday, August 19
Olazabal doesn't fear Woods
Special to ESPN Golf Online
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- You don't suspect Jose Maria Olazabal knows the word fear. Certainly not on a golf course, where he once thought he might not ever have the chance to perform again. And not in a major championship, two of which he has won.
Olazabal, not Tiger Woods, tied a major championship record Saturday when he shot 63 at Valhalla Golf Club to come from nowhere to within four shots of Woods' PGA Championship lead. His scorecard has the most incredible sight, one that only a golfer could truly appreciate: In six consecutive spaces is the number 3. Four of those 3s were birdies. Six of his birdies on the day were from less than 5 feet. None were longer than 15 feet. That is the sign of a man who was in command of his game. While Woods was struggling for the first time in recent memory, Olazabal put his name in the record book and seized a course that was there for the taking. But Olazabal did not attribute his superior round to a vulnerable course. He credited Woods, who has a way of heightening one's attention. "It has nothing to do with the course," said Olazabal of a Valhalla course the yielded 53 sub-par scores. "It's the way the players are playing. Tiger is making us work harder. We have to improve our game to have a slim chance of beating him. We have to attack the course to have a chance. And that is what you are seeing." We're just not seeing it from the players you would expect. Ernie Els, second in the first three majors this year, is nowhere to be found. Neither is Colin Montgomerie, not a factor in any major this year. Masters champion Vijay Singh missed the cut, and David Duval withdrew with an injury. Then there are Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson, two players who walked away from Valhalla extremely disappointed. Love, winless since 1998, shot 72 on a day when 24 players broke 70. For the second straight round, he bogeyed the 18th hole to fall six shots behind Woods. Mickelson was 5-under for his round on the front, but played the back nine in 2-over. He is also six back. Perhaps the best way to stay close to Woods these days is to be a player who is not expected to do so. A slew of unknowns -- Bob May, Scott Dunlap, J.P. Hayes, Greg Chalmers -- are right there to try. And then there is Olazabal, the Spaniard who overcame a debilitating foot problem to win last year's Masters. Eventually diagnosed as rheumatoid polyarthritis in three joints of the right foot and two in left, Olazabal endured some 18 months of misery. He could barely get out of bed, let alone walk a golf course. It wasn't until a Munich doctor diagnosed the problem correctly that Olazabal was able to get the right treatment and return to the game. His back-nine duel at Augusta last year with Greg Norman was pure Olazabal, as he hit remarkable recovery shots and holed putts seemingly at will. And that has been the mark of Olazabal's game. Perpetually plagued by poor driving, he has had to be superior on and around the greens. Alas, on Saturday, Olazabal hit 13 of 14 fairways. "I would have to go way back to find a driving day like this," he said. Olazabal began the third round at even par, 11 shots behind Woods. Amazingly, he failed to birdie two of the par-5s. But Olazabal played the front nine in 32, birdied the 10th hole and went on his stretch of making six straight 3s, including four birdies. After missing a 15-footer for birdie at the 17th, Olazabal could get no closer than 35 feet at the 18th and settled for a two-putt par and 63. He shot an opening-round 76, and is 13 under par over the last 36 holes. "I wish I had played the first day like I did (Friday and Saturday)," he said. "I wouldn't be (this far) behind. I had a bad round the first round, and these days, you can't allow that playing in a major event. That is for sure." Olazabal, 34, won earlier this year at the Benson & Hedges International on the European tour, where he has 18 victories in his career. But he'd likely have more titles if he could get in the habit of putting his tee shot in the fairway. A short game wizard, Olazabal's best PGA finish was a tie for seventh in 1994. Twice he's tied for eighth at the U.S. Open. Both championships require good driving to avoid difficult rough. And it only became more of a problem after his Masters victory. "My driving got worse, and whenever you start missing fairways, you are going to struggle to score," he said. "The confidence was gone, and it hasn't been all that high up to now. "The last two rounds have been good, but this is what I need. I need to keep on putting up scores like (Friday) and I think everything will come into place again." And unlike some others, Olazabal appears to have no fear of Woods. Not that he would ever fear anything in the game again. "It is up to us to improve our game," he said. "It is not discouraging to see Tiger scoring so low. It will take hard work, and hopefully we will be able to get closer and closer to him."Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.
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