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CNN Sunday Morning

Tiger Woods Leads at U.S. Open

Aired June 16, 2002 - 11:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, today's a big day, final round play at the U.S. Open, and it's under way already in New York. Tiger Woods has been setting the pace since day one, but two other players are hot on his tail. We get the latest now from CNN's Bob Fiscella at the U.S. Open where people are already starting to pour in I'm sure.

BOB FISCELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have already poured in. Some of the early tee time, some of the players are already out on the golf course. Tiger doesn't tee off until 3:30 this afternoon.

Well, a lot of New Yorkers might look at Donald Trump as a guy that can close a deal but Tiger might be the greatest closer of all time, as he takes a commanding four-stroke lead into today's final round of the U.S. Open.

Tiger has won 23 of the last 24 tournaments in which he has led after three rounds. He's four strokes ahead of Sergio Garcia with whom he is paired with and he is five strokes ahead of Phil Mickelson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: I'm excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun playing with Sergio and obviously they're going to be into it and I think we are going to have to go out there and play hard because there's a lot of players are right there.

PHIL MICKELSON, GOLFER: I feel like to have my best opportunity to win, I need to make a few birdies. I don't know where they're going to be. I'm going to try to be patient, but I think there are some holes that I'll be able to make birdies on, and if I can do that, and put a little bit of pressure on Sergio and Tiger behind me, that is a difficult situation to be in when you need to make birdies on a U.S. Open layout.

SERGIO GARCIA, GOLFER: I'm looking forward to it. I think if I play the way I played today, you know I can give myself a good chance. We'll see how everything starts. It's always important to start well in this kind of tournament but I can't wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCELLA: Well, with the largest galleries in tow, Tiger Woods is easily the people's choice to win this show, but Phil Mickelson is the sentimental favorite. He's not only celebrating Father's Day today with his two young daughters, but he is celebrating his 32nd birthday and, Fredricka, that would be icing on the cake for him today.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it sure would be a nice gift, but you know what for Tiger and Sergio who are going to be paired up today, they've got to contend with some very noisy galleries that we've been seeing, not very typical of this level of tennis -- of golf play. So have they commented on how they're managing with the noise level of the NBA or the NFL games out at the U.S. Open today?

FISCELLA: Well, Tiger Woods has such great focus. He has managed to block it out, although he does say the galleries are more vocal here than they have been anywhere else.

As for Sergio Garcia, he made the mistake of complaining about the course conditions on Friday, and yesterday when he came out for his round, one of the comments we heard from a typical New Yorker was, "hey Sergio, it you're going to keep whining, why not put a diaper on."

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

FISCELLA: So these guys have to deal with the galleries and they've done it for the most part a good job of blocking it out.

WHITFIELD: Oh, man. Well, they have a steely nature. They can handle it. OK, so what's next for Tiger? Of course, after today and if he wins, people are looking ahead to the next two very important tournaments.

FISCELLA: Right, if he wins today, he is halfway to the professional grand slam, which no one has won. That means winning all four major championships in the same year. Next up is the British Open next month at Muirfield. If he wins there, then it's out to the PGA Championship at Hazleton (ph). He's won four straight, but never four in a row in the same year, so we're all looking ahead to that.

WHITFIELD: All right, another great year in golf looking ahead. Thanks a lot, Bob, appreciate it.

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