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TIGER'S RECORD DAY TIGER'S 61
Peaking for the upcoming NCAA Championship, the one major
amateur title he has yet to secure, Tiger Woods won last week's
Pac-10 tournament by a whopping 14 strokes. Woods shot 270, 18
under par, at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif.,
breaking Corey Pavin's 1982 tournament record of 273 (11 under
par). But it was Woods's torrid 36 holes on the first day, when
he shot 61-65, that will go down as perhaps the most spectacular
day in collegiate golf history.
"Everybody was shell-shocked," says Randy Lein, coach at Arizona
State, which won the team title by 17 shots over runner-up
Southern Cal and by 26 over fourth-place Stanford. In shooting
61, Woods made 11 birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. His
nine-hole scores were 30 and 31. Arizona State's Scott Johnson
was in second place after the morning round, seven shots back.
"So far I'm low amateur," he joked.
After a 15-minute rest Woods continued his blitz. He shot 31 on
his third nine, chipping in twice and needing just nine putts.
On the final nine Woods birdied three of the first five holes to
get to eight under for the round and 19 under for the day, then
finally tired, bogeying 15 and parring out.
Big Canyon is no cream puff. After Woods's 65, the lowest score
all week was 68. The course record was 66. Jim Wright, the NCAA
director of statistics, said he can't determine if Woods's 61 is
the lowest score ever shot in a college competition.
--RICK LIPSEY
