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Tiger Woods made a clutch birdie at the final hole to tie Rocco Mediate and force a play-off at the US Open today.
Woods, playing on one leg due to his dodgy left knee, rolled in a four-metre putt at the par-five 18th to send the championship into an 18-hole decider at Torrey Pines tomorrow.
Mediate, who played in the preceding group, could only watch on television as Woods produced yet another magic moment to keep alive his hopes of clinching a 14th major title.
“That was one of the worst parts of the green, it was so bumpy,” Woods said of the line of his final putt.
“I told myself it was two-and-a-half balls outside the right, make a pure stroke, and I did.
“It took forever to break and finally snuck in there at the end.”
Woods, who double-bogeyed the first hole for the third time in four rounds, also bogeyed the second, but recovered to shoot a two-over-par 73, while fellow American Mediate shot 71.
They finished at one-under 282, one stroke ahead of Englishman Lee Westwood, who missed a six-metre birdie putt at the last that would have made it a three-way play-off.
Geoff Ogilvy finished best Australian, five strokes behind in a tie for ninth. The 2006 champion was in the thick of things until he bogeyed the ninth and 10th holes.
Woods was grateful to get into a play-off after his horrible start.
“I got off to such a quick start again,” he quipped. “It looked like I was playing myself out of the tournament.
“Even though I was three-over after two (holes), I told myself if I could get back to even par for the day I win the championship, and that would have been the winning number.”
Woods refused to use his left knee, which clearly caused him considerable pain, as an excuse for several poor shots.
He seemed to have the event under control after regaining the lead with two birdies around the turn, but inexplicably pulled his second shot into a hazard at the par-five 13th, leading to a bogey.
Mediate went ahead with a birdie at No. 14, but bogeyed No. 15, as did Woods.
That gave Mediate the lead again but he could not make the one more birdie he needed to put it away, leaving open the door for Woods.
“That man will crawl around if he has to,” Mediate said of Woods.
“Sure, I’d like to have won outright but I didn’t. What can I say?”