WOODS YOU BELIEVE IT
Faltering start deflates hype but don’t count Tiger out yet...there’s still life in the old dog
LIKE the Augusta weather this week, it took Tiger Woods and his fans a while to warm up yesterday.
Despite huge galleries lining every fairway under the clear blue sky, the initial atmosphere was respectful, or even reverential, rather than hysterical towards the man in black.
But at the start of his first round back at Augusta for three years, there was not much to shout about.
Right from pulling his opening tee-shot into the trees, the new Woods was looking for his old routine on his favourite playground.
He did not manage a single birdie on the four par-5s he traditionally dominated. And after pushing tee-shots right and bogeying the first hole around Amen Corner, the first big cheer came when the 14-time Major winner nailed a 15-foot putt to avoid a double disaster after finding Rae’s Creek off the tee at 12.
At that point Woods had slipped to three-over par and trailed his playing partner and early leader Marc Leishman (right) by six shots.
The American superstar continues to divide opinion but there can be no doubting he is a fighter.
And he played his final six holes in two under par – including a 22-foot birdie putt on the 16th – to finish one over on 73. It was the same score as his last round here in 2015. And the old roars from the crowd were back by the end. It could have been better. But it could have been a lot worse.
“It was interesting,” said the four-time Masters champion. “It was up and down for me today. I had some birdie chances I didn’t take. I played the par-5s very sloppily. If I had played those even halfdecently I would have been a couple under par. I definitely didn’t score as well as I played. I could have done better on the par-5s.
“But at the moment I am only five back and I think the leaderboard will be bunched by the weekend. I feel good. It feels awesome to be back.” Woods had described the atmosphere in his practice rounds as the craziest he had ever experienced at Augusta – and he blamed himself for puncturing the hype. “It was just incredible at the start – people were ecstatic,” he claimed. “They were into it and then I go and pull a 3-wood off the first tee.” European No.1 Tommy Fleetwood (above) was also slow out of the blocks but also got going on the back nine with a hat-trick of birdies. First he conjured memories of Phil Mickelson’s shot from the pine straw at the 13th as he found the green with his second shot for a two-putt birdie.
After bogeying 14, he then holed his second shot to the par-5 15th, only to miss the nine-foot eagle putt before rolling in birdie putts from nine feet and 17 feet at 16 and 17.
The gloss was taken off his battling performance with a bogey at the last after he drove into the trees for a level-par 72 – his best score in only his second appearance here at Augusta.
“It’s kind of a different atmosphere here, isn’t it?” said the Southport star.
“And then there’s Tiger on top of it all. It’s a great experience to have.
“But when you’re playing you feel so fixated on your own thing that you actually don’t take it all in.”
Leishman was co-leader on four under par on the 15th when he went over the green with his second shot and then chipped into the water on his way to double bogey.
“The crowds were great,” said the Aussie. “It’s nice to be on that stage and play well. I look at it as a positive playing with Tiger. He’s a great guy and we spoke a lot. It was cool playing in front of big crowds like that. I really enjoy it.”