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Tiger Woods
Day Three Report: When Tiger Woods stripped the cover from his driver, the crazy show began -- one man controlling, thousands following. He planted a golf ball into a patch of Oakmont Country Club's driving range. Then, he coiled and unloaded. A whistling speck of white disappeared, to the "oohs" and "ahhs" of a fireworks show.
Even before Tiger began yesterday's round -- a 1-under 69 that lifted him to second place, two shots behind Aaron Baddeley -- he owned the U.S. Open domain. As he practiced, spectators filled the range grandstand and packed all space behind the rope. An NBC camera crew tracked every move. Hundreds in a corporate tent on the right emerged from the shade, lining a railing. Dozens of fans covered a grass slope 200 yards away. A caddie and swing coach formed an inner defense line. Two Pennsylvania state troopers, as well as a personal security guard, stood at attention.
And the man who owned the circus didn't turn once to look at it.
For 40 minutes, and then, for four more hours on the course, Tiger hit balls with the precision, power and single-mindedness that's turned him into one of the planet's foremost celebrities. The devoted pack that followed him yesterday suggested, perhaps, that the stature of golf's unrivaled icon has eclipsed that of the game itself.
Entering today's final round, Tiger shares space on the leaderboard with, among others, Stephen Ames and Bubba Watson and Paul Casey. But they don't share much else. Paul Casey is a golfer. Tiger is a brand. One of the troopers detailed to follow him this week described seeing Tiger in person as a "pinch me" moment.
Other U.S. Open competitors drove courtesy Lexus sedans; Tiger, sponsored by Buick, drove an Enclave SUV. He wore apparel with his personal logo. Fans, curious for an instant Tiger Update, could send a text message -- SCORE -- to the number 96637.
At 5:45 p.m., minutes after he broke into a short-lived lead, this is what they received in return: "Rd 3: -2 today (16); +3 overall, T-1st place."
Tiger's charge for the U.S. Open trophy made yesterday an event, not a golf event. In 2006, television ratings for tournaments when he was in contention were roughly double those of when he wasn't. On Thursday and Friday, he'd survived uneven rounds and entered yesterday five shots off the lead. Still, he was the omnipresent force. Fans didn't even know the names of some of his competitors. Others, they knew by face. He was the one they knew by silhouette.
After he left the practice range, he whisked back toward the clubhouse and down a stone walkway. And the crowd followed him:
To the first tee box, where 27 cameras, both still and video, tracked his opening drive.
To the second hole, where 175-pound teenager Matt Orlowski hopped atop a buddy's shoulders, just for a teetering glimpse of Tiger's swing.
To the seventh hole, where Don Geiger, 74, held a periscope that allowed him to follow Tiger's approach -- an experience he called "almost spiritual."
Tracking Tiger at Oakmont yesterday required both planning and patience. Depending on the moment, between 7,000 and 10,000 people surrounded him -- a mob too large for some of the course's narrow passageways. He played some holes faster than fans could walk them. A 10-minute bottleneck clogged the pedestrian bridge after Tiger crossed the Turnpike and headed for the second hole.
To stay with him, some fans jumped ahead two or three holes, watched him pass, and then jumped ahead once more.
"I just elbow people and try my best," said Justin Romano, 21, who'd come from Bear, Del., to watch Tiger.
Oakmont, with Tiger on the course, assumed the aerial look of a giant youth soccer game: one mob chasing one thing, leaving the rest of the field uncovered. When Tiger passed through, fans cleared out -- no matter that the leaders were still to come.
Those following Tiger seemed to fit in two categories. The purists came for his ability; they wanted to study his swing and inspect his mannerisms.
"He's so deliberate and focused," Jeff Runz, 60, of Lancaster, Pa., whispered to his friend while they watched Tiger on the sixth tee.
"It's like he's trying to feel every inch of his swing," Chris Townsend, 52, responded.
The casual fans, though, came more to witness Tiger's presence -- satisfaction enough, even when poor sightlines or crowds prevented them from following his shots.
"I don't even care for golf myself," said Lisa Blake, of Plum. "But seeing him come across that green, it's surreal."
Yesterday, Tiger played his finest round of the tournament, but several narrowly missed putts prevented a strong day from becoming spectacular one. On the front 9, he recorded a 33. Only a bogey on the 18th broke his streak of 13 consecutive pars. He couldn't remember, he later said, the last time he played with such precision from the tees. When he picked his ball from the final hole -- pleased with 17 holes and agitated by one of them -- he waved his cap, headed toward a player's catwalk, ducked into the scorer's area and grabbed a Diet Coke.
One minute later, he conducted a round of interviews. ("I felt like I was in control of my game today," he said.)
Then, somebody asked him when he'd return to the driving range, where his day began, and where the crowds already waited.
"As soon as I'm done with you guys," he said.
