RIVIERA TOUGH TURF FOR TIGER BOGEYS PUSH WOODS FAR BEHIND.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

It was vintage Tiger Woods: A booming drive on the uphill 475-yard, par-4 18th at Riviera Country Club, a middle-of-the-fairway iron that placed the ball 23 feet past the cup and a straight-as-an-arrow downhill putt that elicited a shout of ``get in the hole'' from his sizable gallery as soon as it was struck. As if it had any other choice.

As the crowd roared its approval, Woods turned his palms to the sky and smiled sheepishly as if to acknowledge what everyone else was thinking.

Where has that been all day?

Woods, who was within eight shots of the lead after Friday's momentum- building 66, had his weekend unravel long before then.

It came to an end with a messy 1-over-par 72 that left him 14 strokes behind Nissan Open leader Mike Weir and tied for 44th place.

It also added another chapter to the curious story of why Tiger can't tame Riviera?

Woods might be the master of the golfing universe, but he has yet to master the course he began playing as a preteen, where he played his first professional tournament, and the place he considers his home course.

Woods has played the event eight times as a pro - more than any other course without winning. The closest he came was in 1998 when he lost a playoff to Billy Mayfair - the year it was played at Valencia Country Club.

The next year he began the final round tied with Ernie Els and was one shot back entering the 18th before his hopes were killed with a bogey.

Since then, Woods hasn't even been a factor. He finished 18th in 2000, was 13th in 2001, skipped the event in 2002 and tied for fifth last year - a finish that was cosmetically enhanced by his final-round 65.

Woods declined to talk with reporters as he concluded his round, either not interested in discussing his day or in a hurry to get to Pauley Pavilion to watch his alma mater, top-ranked Stanford, beat UCLA.

In fact, he might consider enlisting Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery as a caddie. He's won on the west side seven years in row.

Woods' day got off to a promising start when he birdied the first hole, but it soon became bogged down in a morass of bogeys. He bogeyed five holes on the day.

It's hard to figure why Woods struggles here. He has played well at this time of year before, last year winning in Carlsbad and in the World Match Play Championships the week before and after Riviera.

And this year the course seemed ready made for him. A dry December had kept the rough low for Woods, who has been driving long but not accurately this season. The wet fairways, with less roll, also favor the big hitters.

``It's hard to say,'' Jeff Maggert said of Woods' drought. ``He says he considers this his home tournament. Sometimes it's a little bit tougher to play at home, but it doesn't seem like he has a tough time with anywhere that he plays. I don't know if his game is rough here, the golf course doesn't suit the way he is playing or what. But he certainly hasn't performed in this tournament as well as he has a lot of others.''

If Woods might lose sleep over this, few others are.

``I'm sure,'' Maggert said with a slight grin. ``He'll win it some day.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Tiger Woods began the day within eight shots of the lead but a 1-over-par 72 Saturday left him 14 strokes off the pace and tied for 44th place after the third round of the Nissan Open.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer