Woods Has 71 to Rout Field, Surpass Pavin

For the nearly 400 who followed Stanford’s Tiger Woods, waiting for a flash of greatness at the Pacific 10 golf championship Wednesday at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, it was a long day.

Finally, things went Woods’ way--much to the delight of the gallery--when he birdied the final three holes for a one-under-par 71.

Woods, from Cypress, had a 72-hole total of 18-under 270, breaking the Pac-10 tournament record of 273, set by UCLA’s Corey Pavin in 1982. On Monday, he shot a course-record 61 and a 65 on the 6,908-yard layout, where the two-time defending U.S. Amateur champion is an honorary member. He shot a 73 Tuesday.

It was the third consecutive tournament victory for Woods and his sixth in 12 college tournaments this season.

“This is great,” Woods said, “I’m playing pretty solid. I’m not making many mistakes. . . . My whole goal for today was to try to get to 20 under, so I’m disappointed a little.”

Woods won by 14 shots over USC’s Brian Hull (69-74-69-72) and Oregon State’s Birk Nelson (74-70-72-68). Nelson, who was paired with Woods, had the low round Wednesday.

Chris Hanell of Arizona State shot 76 Wednesday and finished fifth at 287. The Sun Devils had five of the top 10 finishers and won the team competition by 17 shots with a score of 1,456. USC (1,473) was second, California (1,478) third and Stanford (1,482) fourth.

Woods’ birdie run started at No. 16, an uphill 568-yard par five. He hit his drive about 325 yards, then a three-wood into the wind to within 15 feet. His eagle putt lipped out.

“I thought it was in, and I think so did everybody else,” Woods said.

He made a 20-foot uphill putt for a birdie three at 17, then completed the run with a four-footer for birdie at the par-five 18th.

Woods’ day started poorly when his second shot on the first hole spun off the green and into the water. But he was able to make bogey.

“I tried to take the positive approach,” said Woods, who began the day with a 12-shot lead. “I hit two good shots on that hole.”

He got back to even for the round with a birdie at 443-yard eighth.

He made his second bogey at 10, when his second shot was over the green and he missed a 10-foot par putt.

Woods was lucky to escape with a bogey at the 404-yard 12th. His drive was way left and in deep rough. His approach to the pin was blocked by trees, but Woods said he saw an opening and fired at the pin. His shot smacked a thick branch and came to rest about 15 yards to the right of where he was, still in the deep rough.

Had the the ball gone left off the tree, it would have been out of bounds. Wood recovered by hitting a wedge onto the green and needed two putts from about 15 feet for a bogey.

He then made three consecutive pars before finishing with a flourish.