Herrmann: No better late show for NBC than Tiger shooting 66
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.
If Tiger Woods were an NBC prime-time series - and the network pretty much tried to turn him into one last night - it would have been a whole lot better than "The Jay Leno Show." At this rate, Woods might just get his own series, considering what he did last night was as good as anything NBC has had on since "Seinfeld."
Woods galvanized the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, making birdies on the final three holes for a 31 on the difficult back nine. Overall, he made eight birdies to shoot 5-under-par 66, passing much of the field and finishing the third round 1 under par, five shots back of leader Dustin Johnson, who also had a 66.
"It's a U.S. Open," he said. "You've got to just keep plodding along."
Of course, he did more than plod. He boarded a supersonic jet and took the crowd along with him, finishing with a jaw-dropping 3-wood around the fairway tree on the 18th, over the Pacific Ocean and onto the green.
He had been 6 over for the tournament after three holes and still was 3 over after 12. "I still wasn't getting anything out of this round," he said. "Then all of a sudden, I turned it around."
He did it all in the late California afternoon, which was prime time in much of the country. It represented another booster shot for the U.S. Golf Association's effort at another People's Open. This time, the USGA met many of them in their living rooms.
It worked two years ago, when the Open was on the West Coast and Woods, on his way to winning the national championship on one leg, was a bigger star than Alec Baldwin and the Open was a larger hit than "30 Rock." Maybe this is a good idea, a way to promote a sport that can use more new, young enthusiasts.
One problem is that even on a weekend, the youngsters are likely to be in bed before 11 p.m., the time in the East when NBC was proudly looking forward to presenting sunset at Pebble Beach. "One of the most breathtaking sights in golf," Bob Costas said as the telecast came on the air in the afternoon.
Another problem was that Woods began Saturday seven shots and 13 groups behind leader Graeme McDowell. That meant he was going to be done about two hours before the sun would set on NBC's telecast. That's showbiz.
When he was on, Woods offered more drama than all the "Law & Orders" combined. He birdied Nos. 11 and 13 to get on the radar. His fist pump made a comeback when he birdied No. 16 to go 1 over, six shots behind the leader at the time. He pumped his fist harder on No. 18, accentuated with a loud "Yes!" when he pulled off the breathtaking shot. It led to one last birdie.
Woods has had his share of problems this year, but by the time the local news came on last night, Woods ensured he would not be confused with "The Biggest Loser."
Look for more prime-time golf in years to come, what with the USGA already having scheduled three more West Coast Opens this decade - at Olympic in San Francisco, Chambers Bay in Washington state and back here at Pebble Beach.
It's all in the name of bringing the Open to the wider public. Sure it is. Maybe this is sour grapes from a Bethpage aficionado, upset that the Black Course isn't on the horizon for the next 10 years or so. But this peanut stand struggled to stifle a guffaw when USGA president Jim Hyler proudly proclaimed that the Open has been on a "public" course for three consecutive years and will have gone public seven times in 12 years.
And the space shuttle is public transportation. Yes, Pebble Beach is a public course - if you have $495 to spend for a round of golf.
That's an argument for another day, or night. At least NBC can bank on a lot of air time for Woods this evening while it lobbies for an Open in Maui, which means it could neatly fit in the "Saturday Night Live" time slot.
