Iain Carter's US PGA blog

Iain Carter keeps us up to date with the best of the action from Southern Hills.

Tiger Woods USPGA

Southern Hills media centre - Monday 1.30am BST...

So he did it and in some style. It wasn't a procession and it was rather more enthralling than we were anticipating thanks to the plucky challenges of Woody Austin and Ernie Els.

Then Woods three putted the 14th. The lead was down to one. And this is where the extra dimension came in. Woods was furious. He knew he had to attack and he boldly took on the pin at the fifteenth to set up what proved the deciding birdie. "I had got myself in this mess, I needed to go and get myself out of it," he commented.

It was great to see a resurgent Els - he should feel buoyed by the charge that he made. Otherwise it is hard to see who is going to prove a consistent challenger to Woods at the highest level in the near future. Woods is just unstoppable and now within five of Jack Nicklaus's major record.

I've just come off the course having walked the back nine with Colin

on the 15th he'd picked up his fifth birdie of the day.

rough looks innocuous. It isn't. The ball sinks to the roots, you

can't see the ball until you arrive upon it and this is within two paces

Woods' lead is three. It could go just like that - but it probably

won't because he is that good. We'll be finding out in our live

last competitive round of the year. There'd been suggestions from

Lefty's Dad that his son had been told to completely rest his

"I will be playing the FedEx Cup series. I was told this was going to

be a 12 week recovery process. I'm in the 11th week and it feels just

terrific." He shot a one under par 69, equalling his best round of the

It's Sunday morning, we've been here for nearly a week and we are still

Apparently we're in for a display of shooting stars the like of which we

haven't seen since George Doors packed-in giving the scores.

Of course there's only one star from the golfing galaxy currently

one of the dullest of major championship final days. Certainly that's

accelerated well clear in the opening couple of holes. This time he's

competed at the sharp end of a major. Stephen Ames (Woods' closest

one. "He's a better player than all of us," Ames said. "He's the best

in the world. Are you kidding me? It's tough playing with Tiger. He's

relentless. He's always hitting the great shots and making all the

"It's just like Jack Nicklaus used to do," added the 43 year old

Trinidad born Canadian. "The exact same thing. When Jack walked on to

the tee everyone's knees started shaking." So how will Ames combat the

"My game plan is to be conscious of what I'm doing and not be conscious

of what Tiger's doing," he said. "That's the only thing I have control

over - myself not him. That's the biggest concern that I have is being

me."

Has there ever been a better front runner in golf? There's been so much

said and written about Woods' golfing ability and mental strength but

there's a fair dose of intellect to be thrown into the mix as well.

It's my hunch that Woods has known the number for this week for some

lot of stress-free pars. That's great golf on a course that has yielded

they've often pressed too hard and ended up dropping shots.

delicious pairing. There's history here. Ames questioned Woods'

Woods isn't so sure.

It'll be 100 degrees or more when they meet on the first tee, but don't

Sergio, Sergio, Sergio. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse the Spaniard, who so nearly won the Open that he'd dominated for pretty much four solid days, has just been booted out of the US PGA.

A clerical error in the recorders hut did for Garcia. He'd taken five at the par four 17th, en route to a four over par third round 74. The only trouble was his scorecard showed him taking a four. He'd therefore signed for an incorrect score and was disqualified.

It'll come as no consolation to Garcia that his playing partner Boo Weekley was oblivious to the error as he discussed his own 65.

Weekley was quizzed on his understanding of the complex qualification criteria for next month's FedEx Cup. "You don't know much about the formula?" came the question.

"No sir, I never was good at math," came the reply. "Can you count up to five?" might have been the next question, but it wasn't. Weekley also admitted that he was unaware that a birdie at the last would have given him a share of the course record 63 shot yesterday by Tiger Woods.

"No I didn't know," he said. "Really, that would have been nice. I was just trying to make par. You try to make par and look where I ended up, trying to be safe," he laughed. Weekley finished by bogeying the last and goes into the final round at level par.

As for Garcia, he swiftly left Southern Hills, but his influence remains. He's starring in a beer ad on television in which he plays a Spanish James Bond-style character. He has departed, no doubt, shaken and stirred.

We're preparing ourselves now for commentary from nine o'clcock on Five Live Sports Extra wondering whether anyone is going to be able to stay with Woods at the top of the leaderboard.

this mystical number - 63. Tiger's astonishing round yesterday is still

18th green had been cut. He says he's done the sums and when a ball is

grabbed by the hole in the way that Woods' putt was it physically HAS to

to match that score yesterday and in all it's been done 23 times. Vijay

Okay here's what happened. Second round day was trundling along - nothing much was exciting much interest. All was quiet, we were feeling sleepy in the afternoon heat.

At this point we were calling the Five Live studio. "There's history in the making here, you know!" Inevitably the home of live news and sport (this felt like both) cleared the decks and by the time the great man strode on to the final green I was commentating on what was going to be the lowest round in the history of the majors.

"Of course", I cautioned, "this could all prove rather anti-climactic." Well it wasn't. Yes the putt didn't drop but it was drama to the end. The hole beckoned Woods' ball on its fifteen foot journey to history. It called it in and just as it was about to be swallowed the hole spat out the ball with the force of a pinball machine.

Woods dropped his putter in frustration. "I was mad, thought it was going to drop," he admitted. Then he went into Tiger speak mode. "What would a 62 have meant to you?" we wondered.

"It would have meant I would have had a three shot lead rather than a two shot lead," he claimed. Oh yeah? I don't believe it - Tiger doesn't just collect records, he treasures them. For the record he became the 21st man to shoot 63 in a major.

And he also knows all about records and there are two that make miserable reading for the rest of the field here. The first is that he's never lost a major in the seven times he's led at halfway and the second is that in all six majors staged here at Southern Hills the halfway leader has gone on to win.

Anyway let's finish with the bizarre incident of the day? Woody Austin's shot at the 13th that headed into the water and landed on a deceased amphibian. "Yeah my ball was in the little creek sitting right next to a huge dead frog. It was upside down. I just pulled it out with my sand wedge. I didn't want to touch him!" Austin said.

Few were surprised to see the Storm blow away. The overnight leader had one of those days with the tone being set with dropped shots at the second and third. Graham commented: "I got the run of the ball yesterday. I obviously played really well and everything went my way. Today anything that could go wrong did go wrong."

Storm admitted he'd had a disturbed night. He was first out at 7.30 this morning and kept waking convinced he was going to sleep in.

I'm just watching John Daly - he's going for it, big style! His first hole is the tenth, a 366 yard right to left dog-leg. Every other player has been hitting a hybrid at most from the tee to play for position.

Not Daly. He's waited for the green to clear, pulled out his driver and has aimed to cut the ball round the corner and hit the green in one. Where did it go? Television couldn't follow it because it was such an unconventional approach. "We're not set up to find those shots," wailed the commentator. Now we've just learned he's in the trees, next to a cart path right of the green, pin high!

It's going to be an interesting ride........

It's a truly gorgeous morning in the high 80s - the heat of the day is yet to come. The meteorological numbers are in from the steamy first day. The official high was 101 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest day of the year in Tulsa so far.

It's been fun watching the headline writers at work. The weather (as I'm sure you can tell by now) has become an utter obsession and then a bloke by the name of Storm blows in to take the championship by........you get the point.

Of the four majors this is the one with the strongest field, nearly all of the world's top 100 players are competing. But there are also the 20 American club pros here to reflect the heritage of this championship.

Erik Wolf shot a first round 83 and opened the second round with a double bogey six but there's still no wiping the smile from his face this week.

"It's kind of like I'm a kid in a candy store here," said Wolf. "It's like Disneyland....I feel like I've actually gotten a piece of my dream." (He's American by the way).

"All of a sudden I was helping other people rather than worrying about missing the cut. Now I'm something. Now I'm a teacher," he revealed.

And he remains a handy player too. By finishing ninth at this year's PGA Professional National Championship he earned his biggest ever cheque $12,750 but more importantly a ticket to golfing Disneyland - the final major of the year.

The man who thought his golfing days were over when he was working in a cake factory in 2002 also ditched the swing manual after a run of poor results in recent weeks - "I just thought 'sod technique and just enjoy myself'," he admitted.

It's a good looking leaderboard from a European point of view. Open champion Padraig Harrington was round in 69 and seems to have confidence coursing his veins. Lee Westwood double bogeyed his penultimate hole but otherwise compiled an exemplary round that matched Harrington and beat Tiger Woods by two.

But Garcia is well in the hunt as are so many of the big guns. Take Storm out the equation for a moment and there are 51 players within five shots of Daly's 67.

As one colleague commented, we thought this place would be all about the "survival of the fittest - not the fattest."

Rule 1: Drink plenty of water - No "just drank diet coke all the way round."

Rule 4: Be familiar with the course - "No I didn't have any practice rounds."

Rule 5: Play the percentages - Nope, for example he decided to drive over the water on the 18th . "No one does that, what's he thinking of?" cried a watching ex pro.

Daly duly made his par, tapping in for a three under par round that contained just one dropped shot and fourteen greens hit in regulation. The only consolation is that the man who has missed eight cuts and withdrawn from four more tournaments this season is as baffled as the rest of us. "I don't know where that came from," he admitted after his round.

I've just seen poor-old Nick Dougherty starting his round, last out at 2.45pm local time off the tenth tee. No doubt the British youngster was brimful of excitement and anticipation - especially after finishing seventh at his last American major, the US Open.

It's all about the weather. I know, I know, we've been banging on about it all week - but these are record breaking conditions. It's hot, hot, hot - oh and we might get a thunderstorm today. What! No one mentioned anything about rain - until today's forecast that is.

At least Bradley Dredge - the Welshman out first this morning is going to be well equipped. Like Monty he's carrying an umbrella to get some shade as he wanders down the fairways. "I don't much enjoy the heat," Dredge told our Five Live reporter Andrew Cotter. "There's not much of me and I struggle to hold on to my weight at the best of times so you have to do everything you can to try to keep cool. "My umbrella is black and I used it in practice and it does make a difference." At least with a 7.30 am tee time Dredge was able to start in the coolest part of the day.

It was very, very pleasant as we arrived here - but the air conditioning is in overdrive at the moment and, would you believe it, I wish I'd brought a jumper!

On a separate issue what's a digital picture frame? There's now a fifteen-year-old tradition where the defending champion hosts a dinner for all past PGA Champions on the Tuesday of championship week. Not only is it dinner - the host and his wife supply presents for the guests as well. Tiger Woods went for an ipod that shows video highlights of the recipient's PGA win, while Elin chose this digital picture frame thing for the wives. It came with a selection of photos of their husbands winning their title.

The 2002 champion Rich Beem approved. He said: "I think it was cool, this being the digital age."

I popped in this afternoon and brushed past a familiar looking figure. Only when I'd gone by did it register with me that it was Paul Azinger.

Just as I was about to use the facilities I heard: "Hey - I'm the next in line here," and so there I was having to make way for the American Ryder Cup captain.

Azinger will be tapping up his new appointments for advice in the build up to finalising his team for next September's match.

"I'm going to lean on them to help me try to figure out who is playing best while we're at the Ryder Cup and to help me with my (wildcard) picks because I'm going to get four instead of two," Azinger said.

He'll be carrying an umbrella to shield him from the fierce sun and was last seen heading to the barbers for a haircut that will "remove a little heat from my head".

He firmly denied he was planning a skinhead. "No, no. Not at my age," said the 44 year old.

"He doesn't fancy it," was the general feeling over why he hadn't shown up. Then world came that he would be arriving at noon, but still the negative rumours persisted until the tannoy announced his arrival.

He was at least talking a good game as he reflected on his Open defeat. "I was the only one that had the winning putt in regulation, and to me that means a lot," he said.

He also revealed that his father had tears in his eyes when he greeted his son at the end of play and told him that "you did everything right, unfortunately it just wasn't meant to happen."

Garcia obviously would love to be able to hit that 8 foot putt to win once again, but interestingly he told me that he wouldn't want the 72nd tee shot again.

Some have suggested he should have gone with a driver rather than his two-iron, but Garcia insists his was the right play. "A fraction to the right with my approach shot and I would have been on the green and champion," he said.

Woods ordered a pastry and non-fat hazelnut latte from the one employee who didn't recognise him. So Tiger was asked to give his name while his ordered was being prepared.

Woods reply was: "Russell."

"Yes, Tiger said his name was Russell," confirmed branch manager Josiah Borgos.

"I couldn't help but laugh. Tiger ate his pastry while we prepared his beverage.

"And then when his order was ready I called out the name 'Russell' twice and Tiger didn't respond.

"So I called Tiger by his real name and he responded to that. He picked up the drink and he was gone."

Borgos also confirmed that the employee who failed to recognise the world's most famous athlete has a new nickname - they're calling him.......Russell.

The excessive heat doesn't seem to be adversely affecting Rory Sabbatini - golf's most controversial figure at the moment.

During the final round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational Sabbatini had a spectator removed after being bated about his comments that Tiger Woods is "beatable as ever."

Yesterday the South African stood in the searing heat signing hundreds of autographs. "This is what I do every week, every practice round," he said.

Woods, meanwhile, passed the crowds without appearing to sign any. He probably couldn't remember his name.

You're aware of what's in store from the first moment you set foot on the course. The first tee stands at the highest point and the hole heads steeply downhill from the tee to the fairway. It's a spectacular start with the distant sky-scrapers of downtown Tulsa poking their heads above the tree-line.

No such worries this year, with all 18 greens at a lightning quick and uniform pace. Tiger Woods welcomes this - as he does the heat. The world number one was incredulous at the suggestion that the high temperatures could mess with his concentration levels. Indeed everything that he says before a tournament is aimed at informing his rivals that he is ready to compete. Because he only finished 12th at the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills there's a perception that the Great One is vulnerable on this course. But asked which of the 18 holes here particularly has him "licking his chops" his answer was straight to the point: "All of them," he said - and I couldn't help feeling he meant it.

First impressions of Southern Hills? Hot! And this is supposed to be the coolest day of the week. There's a relieving breeze so it's only going to reach 98 degrees Fahrenheit. The rest of the week is going to be up in the 100s.

Among the first points made to Harrington was that, "it's been a few weeks since a European has won a Major - will you break the drought this week?" The Irishman smiled but seriously thinks his Open triumph will prove the catalyst for a string of European wins in the coming years. He said: "I believe we're in a better place now than we were going into the Open." Asked about any downside to being the Open champion Harrington said he hadn't found one yet - while Johnson admitted that in the wake of his Masters win, "it was just overwhelming chaos at times."

Johnson and Harrington will be paired with this year's other Major champion Angel Cabrera for the first two rounds. They'll have much to discuss about the pros and cons of Major stardom. Cabrera seems to have it sussed. Speak through an interpreter and reporters seem to be less bothered with you. Only 20 turned up for the Argentine's pre-tournament press conference.

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