THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – This one was over. Dead and buried. Change the channel and check the agate later, just to see the winning margin.
Tiger Woods led by four strokes with eight holes remaining in the final round of the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, which is golf’s equivalent to the victory formation in football. Maybe he’d add another birdie or two down the stretch and win by five or six for good measure; maybe Zach Johnson, his playing partner and closest pursuer, would show a little grit and cut it to two or three, artfully clinching sole possession of second place.
Whatever the case, the end result was hardly in doubt. Woods was going to win this tournament. There have been less predictable endings to episodes of “Full House.”
And then he fumbled. From the victory formation.
Johnson picked up a stroke on the 11th hole, posting birdie to Woods’ par and cutting the lead to three. He picked up another on the next hole, then another two holes later. But the impossible was still improbable. The script was already written. The tournament host would put things into cruise control, stiff arm the competition, and claim this trophy for the sixth time.
What happened next had so many twists and turns it should have been contested in nearby Hollywood.
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