SMILES BETTER FOR TIGER
Woods happy to be back and fans are loving it, too
IT IS probably fair to say that never before in the history of the Masters has a crowd 10 deep assembled around the first tee at 4.20pm on the first official day of practice.
Normally by then the estimated 70,000 crowd are streaming happily to the exits, savouring the day they saw Amen Corner in the flesh and clutching large shopping bags containing millions of dollars-worth of precious Masters merchandise.
Given no phones are allowed in the grounds, how did word spread so quicklyy that the thing they had waited all day to witness was finally going to happen? They knew all right.
And what a reception they afforded thee main man as Tiger Woods stepped d back into public life after his 60-day leavee of absence.
A couple of minutes later, it was like he e had never been away as his drive fleww wickedly left and spectators weree running for cover. In the end, he finished d in the middle of the adjacent ninth h fairway.
What he would give for such h luck come Thursday. He had a perfect line to the flag and duly y stroked a crisp mid-iron to 10ft t and rolled in the birdie putt.. Then it was time to practice e his chipping from each side off the green — and everyone’ss attention went up a notch.
After his well- documentedd chipping problems in January, all eyes are being trained on how he copes with the infamous tight lies at Augusta.
Woods practised to spots where he knows the flags will be located over the four days of the tournament. His action looked smooth and confident. He hit 16 chips from the front and right of the green and most finished close to the tee pegs that signified the imaginary holes. None were chunked.
So it continued, in positive fashion. At the par-five second, he was putting for an eagle three. At the difficult par-three fourth, he positively skipped off the tee as his long iron finished tap-in distance away.
Nothing, of course, can be read into what happens in practice, but one thing is for certain. At this place where he can draw upon so many happy memories, Woods is going to have an awful lot of goodwill to help him along.
By contrast, Rory McIlroy practised at the other end of the day. In the past, Masters Monday was one where he would seek out an experienced hand for wisdom. Now he was the one passing on the insight, as he strolled to the tee with British Amateur champion, Bradley Neil.
The promising 19- year- old from Blairgowrie considers driving the ball his strongest suit and was understandably pleased to find the middle of the first fairway.
‘I was feeling really happy and Rory steps up and crunches it 40 yards past me,’ said Neil. ‘I just thought: “Phew, he’s good, isn’t he?”’
Just days until 25-year- old McIlroy’s tilt at the career Grand Slam and the thing that struck Neil was that you would have struggled to tell who was the amateur here to soak up the experience and who was the history man.
‘It just tells you how strong he is mentally when he can be so calm,’ said Neil. ‘He’s got this chance to join the greats and yet talking to him you would have never known it.’
What did they talk about? ‘A lot of small talk actually,’ said Neil, who is trying to become the first British amateur since Peter McEvoy way back in 1978 to make the cut. ‘There’s only six years between us, so we talked about girls and things. Strangely, his life seemed to be a lot quieter than mine.’
Plan A called for the pair to play nine holes but Neil got the bonus of a further nine as McIlroy decided to play a full round. Perhaps he had one eye on the weather forecast today, which is dire enough to wonder whether there will be any practice rounds at all.
The highlight of Neil’s round came early, when he holed a 90-yard pitch shot at the second for an eagle three. McIlroy could not stop laughing.
Two weeks ago during a behind closed doors practice session here, Neil had done exactly the same thing. McIlroy, who was also on a reconnaissance mission, was standing on the adjacent third tee at the time.
‘Do yourself a favour Bradley, and don’t ever go for this green in two,’ said Rory.
On the 18th, McIlroy finished in the style he will be looking for come Sunday. A perfect drive was followed by a typically towering iron shot that finished just 10ft from the hole and he knocked in the birdie putt.
And so, late in the day, the attention switched to Tiger, where the crowd spoke as one. They were pleased to see him back.