Woods relishing Major challenge
John Poirier
Where Mark Calcavecchia sees victory at the U.S. PGA championship as a longshot, Tiger Woods sees another first.
With both golfers positioned five shots behind leader Justin Leonard heading into Sunday's final round, Calcavecchia sounded as if he was prepared to wave the white flag after Saturday's third round while a defiant Woods was talking about claiming his first major by coming from behind.
"I'll try to regroup but five back is a long way," said Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champion. "Justin is playing some very good golf.
"He's playing smart and hitting his irons well. I don't expect him to probably shoot worse than par.
"I definitely think I need a three-or-four under on the front nine tomorrow to at least get in the mix in the back nine."
In all eight of Wood's major championship wins he has held at least a share of, or the outright lead going into the final round.
But if the 26-year-old is to add the PGA to the Masters and U.S. Open wins he has collected this season and become the first to complete what is being billed as the American slam, he will have to do something he has never done before and come from behind to claim title.
It's a challenge he is looking forward to tackling.
"That's the challenge," said Woods. "All I have to do is just play well and make putts.
"It's really no big secret.
"There's only a few guys ahead of me tomorrow and I just need to go out there and play solid."
For Woods, anything on the golf course has always seemed possible, even making up five shots in the final round of a major.
The world number one has rallied from bigger deficits before, battling from six shots down to claim the U.S. Amateur championships in 1994 and sees little difference to what he will attempt on Sunday on the Hazeltine National Golf Club's sprawling 7,360 yard layout.
"I was six down with 10 or 11 to play," recalled Woods. "It was just one of those things where I just played well at the right time and he made a few mistakes.
"I just need to get off to a good, solid start tomorrow and get the momentum on my side."
Leonard knows it is possible to make up five shots during the final round of the major. He erased a similar deficit to lift the British Open title in 1997.
Aware of Tiger lurking five shots adrift, Leonard said limiting mistakes would be the key to clinching his second major.
"I came back from five shots to win a major championship," cautioned Leonard. "The lead is safe depending on how I play.
"If I struggle and stumble, especially in the beginning, I think guys are going to feel like they have got a chance... and you know Tiger is going to go out and shoot at the pins."
