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In one of the strangest moments you'll ever see in golf, Woods was lining up a putt at the seventh hole near the edge of the green, close to the body of water that guards the front and right of the green.

His caddie, Steve Williams, was cleaning Woods' golf ball with the 9-iron in hand from the previous shot, then lost his balance, tripped and dropped the club into the water. Because of the depth of the water, Williams was unable to reach in and grab the club, which meant his boss was forced to use 13 clubs until a diver in a dry suit returned the 9-iron to him on the 15th hole.

"Well, that was interesting," said Woods, who could be seen cracking a smile when the incident occurred. "I hit 9-iron my second shot into seven and we went up to the green, my ball spun off to the right side of the green, just off the green.

"I handed my ball to Stevie to have it cleaned and he was going to rinse the 9-iron in the water, and he did. He went to take a step on the rock to reach in there and rinse it off, and he slipped on the rock, and it was either going to be him or the 9-iron. He chose the 9-iron."

Woods had a sarcastic theory as to why it took eight holes to get the club back.

"I figure it must have been a European who was diving for the club," he joked.

Woods said there was one instance where he would have liked to have had the 9-iron. At the 11th hole, he said the yardage was 127, "a perfect number" for the 9-iron. Instead, he hit a "tiny little 8-iron," and made birdie.

It worked out OK.

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