Tiger claws it back to force play-off at US Open

World No 1 Tiger Woods and American veteran Rocco Mediate will play-off for the US Open today after an enthralling final round at Torrey Pines.  

Woods produced another of his miracles to force extra-time, holing a 12ft birdie putt on the final hole that looked like it might horseshoe out, only to drop in.

'Unbelievable' said Mediate, and he was right.

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Big finish: Woods

As for the great European hope Lee Westwood, he fought valiantly all day but there was no wondrous finish for him, as his own 20ft putt to join the other two in the play-off drifted past the hole.   

Mediate will try to became the oldest winner of the title but the odds are long, as the remorseless Woods homes in on his 14th major championship.   

Such was the interest in this gripping championship that even fellow competitors like Sean English were anxious to join the 53,000 crowd and see how the signature grouping of Westwood and Woods got on.

English was told down the second hole that since he wasn't hitting a shot, he wasn't allowed inside the ropes, but even by then there had been an extraordinary episode in a tournament full of them.  

Would Westwood get blown away over the opening holes, we wondered, as Woods had done to so many players over the years when leading going into the final round of a major championship?   

No chance of that. Not when Woods, for the fourth day running, played the opening hole not like the greatest golfer who ever lived but one of the high-handicappers who normally populate this muni.   

A hook into the rough, two hacks out that both hit trees, two chips, one putt, and his third double bogey in four attempts.

To put that statistic into context, Woods came into this week having played 300 consecutive holes at Torrey Pines in the Buick Invitational without so much as a single double bogey. 

Rocco road: Mediate will face Woods

When he dropped another shot at the second the speculation had turned to whether even the great one had used up his share of miracles.   

What a reward playing in the final group on the final day of a US Open was for Westwood.

Just five years ago he was ranked 266th in the world. But he never rested either on his laurels or his millions to fight his way back to a stage as grand as this one.  

After a shaky bogey on the opening hole, Westwood played so well thereafter that a birdie at the 9th took him out in 35 shots and gave him a one stroke lead.  

This mirrored the position he found himself in at the 1999 Masters, the first time he had a chance to win a major.

What was that like? 'I felt physically sick,' he confessed, and it showed, as he went bogey, bogey, bogey.    When he bogeyed the 10th, 12th and 13th holes yesterday, it brought back uncomfortable echoes of a decade earlier.

He was clearly feeling the heat. The par four 14th, shortened to bring the green into play from the tee, now became the sternest test, for Westwood could not afford any more mistakes.

How he responded, a wonderful three wood setting up the birdie three that brought him back into contention, followed by a gutsy 8ft putt to save par at the 17th.   

What of Woods? Walking with a pronounced limp early on, he overcame his rough start with a string of pars.

Then came a birdies at the 9th, and 11th. From one behind Westwood at the turn he was two ahead, and surely would have lengthened his stride under normal circumstances.  

Missing out: Lee Westwood was one shot behind the leaders

Having played no competitive golf for two months, and struggling with his knee, this was clearly a long way from normal, as he bogeyed the 13th and 15th holes.

He and Westwood were level again. A tournament that had set a gold medal standard for drama was ratcheting up the tension once more.  

Playing one group in front, Mediate was free of the madding hordes following the last match.

It was easier for him but only just. Credit the way the veteran reeled off a string of pars to set the under par target of 283 that only one man matched.   

As for Westwood, he has always had the long game to challenge in this event, where accuracy is rewarded.

But, the hallmark of his play here was the startling improvement in his short game, under the inspirational tutelage of fellow Englishman, Mark Roe.  

When Roe told Westwood last July he could improve his chipping beyond all recognition, the latter's first reaction was that he had heard it all before.   

Indeed he had, in a way, from all the best coaches. But Roe explained it in such terms that the penny dropped or, as Westwood put it: 'It was my eureka moment.'

As he enters his prime years, there is clearly still plenty to come from Westwood.

Consistent Swede Robert Karlsson, never outside the top three in his last four European events, matched the par of 71 to finish joint fourth.