by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports
SAN DIEGO - Game over?
History would say so.
Those
in the unenviable position of chasing Tiger Woods' tail in Monday's
completion of the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey
Pines have little hope to cling to considering his résumé.
Woods
has won here seven times as a professional, after all, and is averaging
68.54 strokes per round at Torrey Pines over 50 tours of duty. He led by
four shots after firing a 3-under-par 69 in the delayed third round on
Sunday - and in the 53 times Woods has had at least a share of the
54-hole lead in his career, he's won 49 times, with three of those
coming at Torrey Pines.
And with three more birdies through seven
holes in the fourth round that was halted because of darkness, Woods has
a six-shot lead with just 11 holes to play. So PGA Tour win No. 75 and
Torrey Pines win No. 8 are all but a given, right?
"I've got to
continue executing my game plan. That's the idea," Woods said. "I've got
11 holes to play, and I've got to go out there and play them well."
The
closest pursuers are Brandt Snedeker and Nick Watney. Rookie Brad
Fritsch is eight shots back, and five players, none of whom has won a
PGA Tour event, are 10 back.
Snedeker, the defending champion,
came back from seven shots in the last round last year to snatch victory
from Kyle Stanley. But Snedeker, the reigning FedExCup champion, has
just five holes to play. Watney, who won here in 2009, was 10 to play.
"I'm
not sure how far back I am, but all we can do (Monday) is go out and
try to make him think about it a little bit and see what happens,"
Watney said. "I'm going to try to make as many birdies as I can. I've
got No. 11 and 12 that are tough, and hopefully, maybe (Woods) can help
me out a little bit.
"But I can't just hand it to him, as a competitor. So we'll come out and see how close we can get."
Snedeker said he'll have one thing on his mind - birdies.
"I've
got to make some more birdies," Snedeker said. "I've got a long way to
go to catch him. I've got a guy at the top of the leaderboard that
doesn't like giving up leads, so I have to go catch him.
"I did a
great job (Sunday) of staying patient and playing good golf. I just need
to go out there (Monday) and finish with three or four birdies."
That
might not be enough. With power, precision and remarkable putting on
the bumpy greens, Woods has once again dominated at a place he feels so
comfortable. He's 17 under and could break his own record of victory
margin he set in 2008 when he won by eight.
With a win, Woods, who
ended a two-year drought on the Tour with three wins last year, would
be seven shy of Sam Snead's all-time record of 82.
"I think it's
probably the whole package," Woods said when asked what the key was for
him this week. "I've driven the ball well, I've hit my irons well, and
I've chipped and putted well. Well, I've hit good putts. They all
haven't gone in. ... it was a long day. I mean, we played most of the day,
and I played well today. Overall, I'm very pleased that I was able to
build on my lead. As of right now, I've got a 6-shot lead, so that's a
positive."