Walking miracle
TIGER Woods’ prayers may have been answered in fighting off a career-threatening injury to return here but Amen Corner gave him a bumpy ride on his Masters comeback yesterday.
Two visits into the enormous crowds which followed his every move, interspersed with one in the water at the short 12th, turned the second coming into the third degree for Woods.
It is a perilous stretch which has ended many a Masters dream and his skid on the corner made a severe dent in his opening round.
Two dropped shots and a par on the attackable par-5 13th left Woods signing for a one-over-par 73.
He was accompanied by England’s Tommy Westwood, below, who shot a level par 72.
Woods is not out of the tournament – he opened with a 74 the last time he won the Masters in 2005 – but has left himself a lot to do to win a fifth Green Jacket. Masters Thursday dawned blissful, cloudless Deep South skies, blooming azaleas and dogwoods – but the devil was at work too in golf paradise.
The miserly pin placements and slippery greens made it a tough gig for all concerned but for Woods, playing only his sixth event since spinal fusion surgery, there were additional challenges.
The hue and cry which has greeted his return to the Masters carried with it a clear and present risk of distraction. In a freeze-frame game, the backdrop has always been a chaotic swirl of human movement for Woods – a factor which Rory McIlroy estimated would cost a normal player at least half a shot a round.
Woods is not, and never has been, normal.
A new unauthorised biography reveals how his father Earl used to racially abuse him on the course in a warped attempt to build an AT AUGUSTA impenetrable mental armour around his son. Whatever the dubious methods of a parent idolised by Woods but portrayed in a lecherous and ugly light by the book, few could argue that the tunnel vision he developed has served him well over the course of his career.
But even for Woods the 2018 Masters, after missing the previous two and wondering whether he would ever be physically able to take part in another – he called himself a walking miracle here pre-competition – represents a tournament like no other.
He emerged from the clubhouse to a reverential silence broken only by a solitary cry of ‘see you on Sunday, Tiger’ but it soon gave way to wild applause as he headed for the putting green by the first tee. The noise swelled further as his name was announced to the crowd and at 10.42pm local time his threeyear absence from the event that was once his personal plaything was ended. After all the hype it was, frankly, an inauspicious comeback blow. Woods’ pulled drive into the pine straw was the precursor to a scratchy first five holes which saw three visits to the sand, two of which cost him bogeys.
On the plus side, his back was no issue judging by the howitzer 324-yard drive at the third which almost disturbed Zach Johnson in the group ahead on the green.
The routine birdie it set up was almost matched by another at the short sixth but Woods failed to make the most of the opportunity presented by a precision tee shot.
He reached Amen Corner one over par. After spraying his drive well right over the trees on the 11th, he lined up a big hook for his second but only succeeded in squirting it into the crowd. Draping his iron over his shoulder in frustration, he yelled: ‘God, dang it’. He is mellowing in his dotage. It cost him another bogey.
Then his tee shot at the par three 12th came up short and wet and it took a 15ft putt to spare him anything worse than another bogey.
He was in the trees off the tee at 13th and then in the seeing Sergio dumping ball after ball into the water while you are waiting with a five iron but I made sure I got it there on that hole,” said Stenson.
“I didn’t play my best but I managed my way round the course and made a decent score.”
Stenson joined Charley Hoffman, who led going into the weekend last crowd again after butchering his approach. He is certainly reaching out to the public more these days but this was taking matters too far.
Woods produced a fine recovery shot but had to settle for par on a hole he would historically have targeted for birdie or even eagle.
The erraticism in his game surfaced again towards the year only to finish 22nd, and Canadian Adam Hadwin – a 30-year-old, from Moosejaw, Saskatchewan – in the clubhouse lead.
Australian Marc Leishman, at two under, won his three-ball with England’s Tommy Fleetwood – who shot level par – with Tiger Woods trailing in last of the trio at one over.
Woods said it was “awesome” to be back in end of his round with fine birdies at the 14th and 16th spliced up by another visit to the trees at 15 which allowed his last chance of a birdie at the par-5s to go to waste.
Augusta National offers some latitude when it comes to zig-zag golf but Green Jackets are not generally won from the co-ordinates Woods found himself in at times yesterday. a Masters field for the first time since 2015 but was frustrated with his scoring.
“It was up and down for me,” he said.
“I had an opportunity to make some birdies and didn’t do it.
“I played the par fives very sloppily at even par.
“But this is a very bunched leaderboard and by the end of the week it is going to be very crowded.” On his Masters return he said: “It feels great to be back, it’s been a while.
“I was looking forward to grinding it out and I made a little comeback on the back nine to get myself back into this tournament.”
And he was moved by the warm reception from the Augusta patrons.
“Oh my god it was incredible,” Woods said.
“The people were into it, even on the range