Haas takes control at Tour Championship

<p>Tiger Woods showed signs of life. Jay Haas showed no signs of age.</p><p>A month from turning 51, Haas finished strong Friday in the Tour Championship by saving par on the 17th from 60 feet away in a bunker, then making a 12-foot birdie putt for a 4-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Stephen Ames.</p><p>Not bad for the oldest guy to ever qualify for the Tour Championship.</p><p>"Any time I lead is a great feeling at 20, 30, 40, 50, whatever it is," said Haas, who was at 7-under 133. "It's way too early to get too excited about it. But I haven't done it with smoke and mirrors. I've played solid golf, and that gives me encouragement for the weekend."</p><p>Woods had reason to be encouraged, too.</p><p>Winless for eight months, Woods made two birdies with stunning recovery shots and matched his best score of the year, a bogey-free 64 that left him three shots back going into the weekend.</p><p>Woods hit a low hook off the pine straw with a 6-iron into 20 feet for birdie on No. 5, then made his third straight birdie with an 8-iron from 203 yards over the pine trees to 12 feet at No. 16, the toughest hole at East Lake.</p><p>"I played myself right back into the tournament," Woods said.</p><p>U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen had a 66 and joined Woods at 4-under 136.</p><p>Vijay Singh has some catching up to do if he wants to end the year with 10 victories. The 41-year-old Fijian took 35 putts on a cool, breezy afternoon and shot 73, ending his streak of 13 rounds at par or better. That left Singh in 17th place among 30 players, seven shots out of the lead.</p><p>Singh did not stop to comment, heading to his home on the range.</p><p>Almost as impressive as his score was the way Haas finished. The final three holes are among the toughest at East Lake, and they knocked Mike Weir and Zach Johnson off the leaderboard.</p><p>Weir was at 6 under and in the lead until a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish, taking four shots from just behind the 18th green to sink to a 69 and finished at 2 under. Johnson was at 5 under until he ran into problems on the 16th, hitting an air ball with his wedge from behind the green and making triple bogey.</p><p>Not so for Haas.</p><p>From 233 yards in the 16th fairway, a 481-yard hole that played into the wind, Haas roped a 3-iron into about 15 feet and got so excited about that shot that he nearly three-putted, although any kind of par is a relief. From the right bunker on the 17th, he blasted out to 2 feet.</p><p>He finished in style with a tricky putt straight down the slope, matching the lowest 36-hole score in the four years the Tour Championship has been played at East Lake.</p><p>Now comes the hard part.</p><p>Haas has accomplished about all he could have imagined in the two years since his career got fresh legs. He played on the Presidents Cup team last year. He became the second-oldest player in the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in September. He became the oldest player at the Tour Championship, for only the top 30 players on the money list.</p><p>But he has gone 11 years without winning.</p><p>"I would sure love to do it," Haas said. "I dream about it."</p><p>But he doesn't dwell on it, and Haas only had to look at the leaderboard for a reminder that it's not easy _ especially seeing Woods lurking only three shots behind.</p><p>Despite not winning since the Match Play Championship in late February, Woods has been in this position before, but has not been able to hold onto a 36-hole lead or make up ground.</p><p>In his first tournament since getting married Oct. 5, the former No. 1 player in the world sounded more hopeful than other that swing changes are starting to kick in.</p><p>In some of his frankest answers about his swing, he offered no apologies to making a change despite winning eight majors and the Grand Slam.</p><p>"If I play my best, I'm pretty tough to beat," Woods said. "I would like to play my best more frequently, and that's the whole idea. That's why you make changes. I thought that I could become more consistent and play at a higher level more often.</p><p>"Trust me, I've been down this road before," said Woods, who overhauled his swing after winning the '97 Masters. "I'm starting to see some of the fruits now, which is great."</p><p>It certainly showed Friday, when he never came seriously close to making bogey. He still couldn't find the short grass off the tee, hitting only five fairways, but Woods did not repeat what he called "silly mistakes" from the first round, instead keeping the ball on the right side of the green.</p><p>Singh took a step backward.</p><p>He three-putted for bogey three times, and kept the damage to a minimum on the 13th by inverting his iron to play a left-handed shot from next to a tree.</p><p>All it takes is one good round to get Singh back in the picture, but much of that depends on a rejuvenated Woods, and a 50-year-old who at times feels like a rookie.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/11/157416