Swept away by Tiger's tsunami

Rivals are an irrelevance to the human chain which tagged along behind Woods in the US Open

San Francisco

Suggested Topics

Is Tiger Woods back? The question is no longer being asked, at least not in San Francisco.

Woods was in full pied piper mode at The Olympic Club on Friday, heading a human chain through the closing holes. As he led the magic three-ball, which included Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson, down the 16th fairway, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, a winner on the European Tour this year, was coming towards him down the adjacent 10th. The Spaniard was walking into a human tsunami, wave upon wave of Woods devotees locked in a rolling maul, jostling for position by the ropes.

The Cabrera-Bello group, a combined 37 over par, were reduced to the status of dog walkers, a comparative irrelevance. Their chance meeting offered a snapshot into the Woods experience.

A US Open with Woods at the top of the leaderboard defaults to a two-tier event: Woods and the rest. There was, of course, some pent-up demand in the gallery. It is four years since he won his last major, three since he contended for victory. This is what they had been waiting for, a chance to share in the phenomenon that is Woods, undeniably the most charismatic figure in the game.

Whether he will ever be the player he was is in a sense irrelevant. He need only approximate to that to fire the juices of a golfing public already wedded to the legend. The colourful pageant around the packed 16th green was the golfing equivalent of a state procession, the crowds shoehorned in waiting for the king's outline to form in the distance. The sweet arc of his ball tracing around the dogleg forewarned us of his imminent arrival. And then there he was, the man in black striding purposefully towards what he expects to be a 15th major conquest.

Woods went out yesterday in the last group with his old friend Jim Furyk. Playing partner and career rival Mickelson edged into the weekend with a birdie at the last on Friday. Watson didn't make it. World No 1 Luke Donald had already packed his bags. And Woods's heir-apparent, world No 2 and defending US Open champion Rory McIlroy, was gone, too, all of them seen off by a course that demanded control and respect.

Experience has been Woods's best friend this week. He is hitting the ball cleanly, keeping mistakes to a minimum and playing without risk. He is also informed by the recent past. He knows what it is like to fight his game, to leave a major early, as he did the US PGA in Atlanta last year, an event won by a twenty-something Keegan Bradley, playing at full tilt. That was never going to be the requirement here.

"I know that it [The Olympic Club] takes a bit out of us, but so be it," Woods said. "I would much rather be there than missing cuts or just making the cut. So it's a wonderful place to be with a chance to win your nation's Open."

Woods set out in a three-way share of the lead, two clear of the field on one under par with Furyk and that other great golfing nurdler David Toms. The likes of Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, Charl Schwartzel, last year's Masters champ, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and world No 3 Lee Westwood lurked, all within six of his lead. There was also the threat of the teenager.

The Woods legend was created in infancy. The label attached was prodigy. The cycle continued with the appearance here of two more improbably gifted nippers.

The story of Andy Zhang, the 14-year-old, Beijing-born, Florida-honed fledgling lit up the start of the week. The squealing urgency of the call to tell him he was in the tournament, the awed practice round with Bubba, the triple-bogey start, were all part of the tapestry. He departed on Friday on 16 over par, two better than the Spanish Ryder Cup elder Miguel Angel Jimenez and 12 shots inside Brian Rowell.

By then the story has shifted three years forward to a fully developed teenage colossus called Beau. Young Hossler is 17 and has yet to drink his first coffee, something to address when he goes up to Texas State in the autumn. No self-respecting freshman would be seen walking across the quad without a Starbucks.

Hossler went from defeat by Austin Smotherman – watch out for that name – in the state final to the top of the US Open leaderboard in a matter of weeks. Had the kid from Rancho Santa Margarita High been told after losing out to Smotherman that he would be leading the 112th US Open, what might he have said? "I would probably tell them they were nuts."

We shouldn't be surprised. He has only been playing the game for nine years and this is not even his first major. Hossler missed the cut at Congressional a year ago.

He came unstitched a little here after reaching the exalted mark of two under par, closing the second round on plus three, still good enough to go out yesterday in the seventh-last group with Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin.

"I was pretty excited [topping the leaderboard], but then again I had another 40 holes at least. You got a long way to go and you can't get too wrapped up on where you're at."

Blimey, such composure. Someone age-test that boy.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

iBet: Look each way for value in The Cote D’Azur Open

With the top nine players in the men’s world tennis rankings all missing this tournament to prepare ...

by Gareth Purnell

On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: We could have been on the tour of Siberia over past 72 hours

When cyclists look back on their careers spanning many hundreds (and in some cases possibly thousand...

by Martin Ayres

Nike kit deal puts England at No 2 in the world (but which country is top?)

As England’s new football strip – made by Nike – is revealed today, new research shows the English F...

by Alex Miller

       
Career Services

Day In a Page

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'

Masculinity in crisis?

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'
Have US shock jocks gone too far?

Have US shock jocks gone too far?

An incendiary remark from Rush Limbaugh may be the beginning of the end for outspoken right-wing US broadcasters
The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North

The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey

Elmbridge pays more income tax than big cities of the North
Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies

Michael Landy's artistic marriage made in heaven... and hell
'He will always be a friend': Jackie Stewart backs Polanski

'He will always be a friend'

Jackie Stewart backs Roman Polanski
The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

The price of pacifism

From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
The experts' guide to summer: From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz

The experts' guide to summer

From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz
Sex, drugs and fast cars: The legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Early glimpses of Ron Howard's film Rush suggest it will portray Hunt as a high-living lothario, with an insatiable appetite for partying.
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation when using drugs and alcohol. It was hurting my life'

Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'

The next Vanilla Ice or the next Eminem? Macklemore doesn't have a record contract – but he does have the UK's biggest-selling single of the year.
Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Sri Lankan cuisine is light, sunny, wonderfully spiced – and so easy to cook from scratch. Just as soon as you've broken into the coconut, that is.
Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in