Tiger takes step in right direction at Aussie Open

From about 250 yards away, thousands of fans perched on the dunes behind the 17th hole could make out the guy in a red shirt posing over his shot, then the ball appearing on the green and racing down a ridge to 12 feet behind the pin.

This is what they wanted to see yesterday at the Australian Open.

Tiger Woods, gone for most of the year and rarely on the leaderboard even when he was playing, faced an eagle putt late in the final round at The Lakes that would have given him a share of the lead.

Woods missed.

Moments later, three groups behind him, Greg Chalmers hit a 7-iron to 18 inches on the par-3 15th for a birdie that put him back in control and ultimately led to a one-shot victory over John Senden. With a par save from the bunker on the final hole, Chalmers closed with a 3-under 69 to put his name on the Stonehaven Cup trophy for the second time.

Woods now has gone two full years since his last win at the Australian Masters, yet he headed south to Royal Melbourne for the Presidents Cup with reason for optimism.

Two bad tee shots slowed his charge, one of them a questionable decision. Yet there also was a birdie on the second-toughest hole to keep alive his hopes, a chip-in for eagle on the 14th hole when nothing less would suffice and three solid rounds that gave him his first real chance of winning in nearly a year.

Woods closed with a 5-under 67 and finished alone in third. It was his highest finish since a play-off loss last December to Graeme McDowell at the Chevron World Challenge and his best result against a full field since his last win in Melbourne.

"I felt great," Woods said. "It's nice to finally be healthy again."

ineligible to play

He has talked about his health a lot the last year, though it cannot be written off as an excuse. Woods missed most of the summer while letting injuries to his left leg fully heal, which made him ineligible to play once he was feeling strong. This was only his second tournament in the last three months and he showed plenty of progress.

For the first time since the Masters, when he was tied for the lead at the turn on Sunday until he stalled and tied for fourth, his name on the leaderboard meant something.

"It's been since Augusta, I had the lead at Augusta on Sunday, that's the last time I've been in that spot," Woods said. "It's been a long time. Unfortunately I haven't played a lot of tournaments in between. But it was great to be out there. I had a chance. Unfortunately, I didn't post the number I wanted to post."

Chalmers kept his wits about him.

He could hear the massive cheer when Woods chipped in for eagle from about 15 feet off the green, loud enough to rattle him. But he realised that he still had the short 13th - the one Woods bungled - and two par 5s.

"I was aware of what Tiger was doing, but I was also aware that I had some birdie holes coming up," Chalmers said. "I thought the advantage was with someone still out on the golf course."

The final challenge came from Senden, the 54-hole leader, who hit a marvellous pitch across the 17th for birdie that brought him to within one shot. Needing a birdie to force a playoff, Senden's putt from some 50 feet had a chance until it stayed just above the hole. Senden closed with a 72 and was the runner-up.

Woods had said he needed a solid front nine to give himself a chance on the back nine, which has three par 5s and a pair of short par 4s. That's just what he did, playing the front nine with three birdies and no bogeys.

"Two holes on the back nine today, and I putted awful yesterday (Saturday)," Woods said. "Or I would have been right there."

His third-place finish should be enough to at least get him back into the top 50 in the world.