Golf: TIGER's 63 IS AS LOW AS YOU GO ; 89th USPGA CHAMPIONSHIP... Woods Denied Record but Leads By T

Aug 11, 01:39 AM

Current Headlines: By DAVID McCARTHY at Southern Hills

THE TIGER played tig with history yesterday and just let it brush his fingers before escaping.

But the hold Tiger Woods has on the Wanamaker Trophy after a quite astounding round of golf in temperatures hitting 100 degrees is vice-like and anyone who wants to wrench it from him will have to produce the weekend of their golfing life.

Woods stood three holes from home at Southern Hills needing one more birdie for a 62 - a score no man has produced in the history of any Major championship.

Asthe massive crowds sweltered on the sidelines holding their breaths he couldn't quite get there, missing birdie putts on 16 and 17 before seeing his 15-foot putt for a three on the last horseshoe right round the hole and stay up. And they sayhorseshoes are meant to be lucky ...

But the seven-under 63 he carded - to become the 22nd player to post that score - was enough to secure a two-shot lead over local favourite Scott Verplank, whose 66 for four-under 136 had raised hopes in Tulsa of homegrown victory.

Woods admitted he thought the putt at the 18th had dropped and said: "I knew if I had made the putt on the last it would have been a nice little record to have - but 62 and a half is all right, I guess!

"I thought it was in but it didn't drop. This is a Major championship and the conditions are tough but that's why I train as hard as I do. "All I can do now is keep plodding along.

We've got a long way to go yet - 36 holes - and a lot of guys can still win this championship."

Woods won this thing a year ago and it is the only Major title he holds. He served notice yesterday he is not going to let it go in a hurry.

He is now homing in on his 13th Major title like a man possessed.

Woods ripped out eight birdies and only one bogey, throwing in a 30-foot par save at the 12th which was greeted by player and crowd alike like an albatross. But it was the drama on the last green that will belong remembered.

A win for Woods would be warmly greeted but slap bang in the middle of America's bible belt they are praying for a Verplank victory.

While Woods is a friend and Ryder Cup colleague he won't have any problem in dashing Verplank's dream and spoiling what would be a fairytale script for the man who battles and controls diabetes every day of his life.

When Major titles are at stake Woods doesn't allow affection or sentiment to enter his consciousness and he hunted Verplank down relentlessly under the burning sun.

The world No 1, from a starting position of one over, roared round the first nine holes at Southern Hills in 32 strokes then produced a birdie at the 10th to be just one shot behind the local favourite.

More followed at 13, 14 and 15 and when the miracle save at the 12th was thrown in, the momentum was with him.

Verplank had earlier charged to the top of the leaderboard, roared on by a huge support.

The 43-year-old's popularity with the galleries is matched by his fellow American pros, most of whom say they would want Verplank to win if they can't.

Yesterday he helped his cause with a fine bogey-free round and has his sights set on following Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington into the Major winners' enclosure for the first time. He said: "If I could do it, that would mean such a lotto my friends and family. I knew I would have extra support here and it has been helpful.

"On the other hand, I was feeling like an accountant the other night when I was trying to sort out all the tickets I have been getting people. After putting them into 15 envelopes to be collected at the course, I gave up.

"I have been looking forward to this tournament for so long. It is close to home and the surroundings, the environment at the support make it pretty cool."

That was the only thing cool on another blisteringly hot day in Tulsa. And Verplank's diabetic condition means he has to be more careful in the conditions than anyone else.

But he played down the illness, which he controls with an insulin pump and said: "I use it five or six times in a round but I have to. If I don't feel well, I can't play well.

"The pump has helped my career and makes me feel more stable. It tells me my blood sugar levels and if they are dropping I can respond quicker. I just try to stay positive about it because I have been to the bottom of the barrel and you can only beatyourself up so much. Now I just try to give myself a chance."

Verplank is one ahead of Canadian Stephen Ames and Aussie Geoff Ogilvy.

Scotland's only representative Colin Montgomerie produced a really gritty performance to make the weekend.

Starting at two over, Monty bogeyed the second then doubled the seventh to leave him five over.

Another bogey would have knocked him out of the event and with conditions so hot he was sheltering under an umbrella between shots, he ground out pars on each of the next 11 holes to get into the clubhouse on 145 after a 73. And John Daly is still in themix after a 73 for 140.

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