ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608270040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CORNELIUS, ORE.
SOURCE: Associated Press
From the time Tiger Woods climbed out of his highchair to slap his first golf shot, he walked a determined path to golfing greatness. No step was bigger than his comeback victory Sunday for an unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship.
Woods, who hit his first golf ball while in diapers as a 10-month-old imitating his father's swing in their Southern California garage, defeated Steve Scott on the 38th hole, coming back from 5-down with 16 holes to play and from 2-down with three to go.
Playing his best when he needed it most, Woods hit 28 of the last 29 greens after starting the morning round with a 41. He shot a 65 on the second 18, making five birdies and an eagle.
``I knew that 5-up was not enough against someone like Tiger,'' Scott said after he missed a seven-foot par putt on the second extra hole to lose the match. But Scott was a game opponent, shooting 68-70 in the two rounds.
``I'm going to celebrate like hell tonight,'' said Woods, who tapped in a two-footer for the victory. ``I got off to an awful start this morning and I didn't start making any putts until the very end.''
Boy did he.
Woods made a 34-foot eagle putt on No. 11 to get to 1-down, fell back to 2-down when Scott birdied No. 14 and rolled in a six-footer for birdie on the 34th hole to get back to 1-down.
Then came a dramatic 30-foot birdie putt on the 35th hole to square the match, Woods pumping his fist over and over and shouting as the ball fell.
When he tapped in for the winning par on the 38th hole, Woods fell into emotional hugs with his mother, Kultida, father, Earl, and coach Butch Harmon.
The big question - when he will turn professional - remained unanswered. ``I can't think of that right now,'' Woods said.
No one - not Bobby Jones, not Jack Nicklaus - had won three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships.
There is no way to overstate Woods' three-year domination of amateur golf.
His 18 consecutive victories - a record - came in grueling match-play competition where one bad round or one opponent with a hot putter could end his run.
And this week at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Woods played under the extreme weight of expectation - he was the assumed champion - and stood strong through a fatiguing 156 holes of golf in temperatures that neared 100 degrees.
And he won in every way imaginable. In 1994, when he won his first title, he came from 6-down in the final - a record comeback in the Amateur - to defeat Trip Kuehne.
This year, he simply wore down opponents by making virtually no mistakes and time and again hitting the key shot.
He demoralized foes with tee shots so long and so majestic they reduced the gallery to laughter and made some opponents turn away.
But when Woods let Scott take the lead in the morning 18 holes on Sunday, he found the 19-year-old University of Florida student unwilling to give it up easily.
Woods, a 20-year-old Stanford University junior, handed Scott three consecutive holes early in the match, hitting his approach into the water on No.3, chipping through the green on No. 4 and hitting two balls into the water on the par-3 5th.
Woods fell 4-down when he handed Scott another hole with a bogey on No. 7. He won No. 9 when Scott bogeyed, but Scott bounced back to win the 10th with a four-foot birdie putt and No. 11 with a 10-foot birdie.
Woods hit a great shot to within two feet on No. 17 to cut his deficit to 4-up, but fell back to 5-down after the first 18 when Scott birdied from 30 inches on No. 18.
Woods shot a sloppy 76 while Scott had a solid 68.
Scott played with great control all day. When he missed a green, he missed in the right spot and several times was able to make up-and-down par saves.
Chatting constantly with his girlfriend and caddie, Christy Hummel, Scott seemed able to block out the large, pro-Woods gallery.
While there was a sense Woods eventually would respond with the kind of birdie barrage that has made other opponents fold, Scott was more than a match when the burst came.
After Woods closed to 1-down through 27 holes, Scott responded with a great chip-in birdie on No. 10 to take a two-hole lead.
Woods sliced it to 1-down with his eagle on No.11, but Scott responded with a birdie at No. 14.
Then came Woods' sprint to history, making those birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to force the playoff.
The last player to make it to the final seeking a third consecutive title was Jones in 1926, and he lost to George Von Elm 2 and 1.
The last person to try for three in a row was Jay Sigel in 1984, and he lost in the first round to Rocco Mediate.
But Woods was able to do what no one else had done. And he gives every indication there is more in store in his career.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Tiger Woods pumps a fist in jubilation after tyingby CNBthe match with a birdie on the 35th hole. color.