TIGER FEAT!
Woods sinks monster 71-foot putt as astonishing comeback gathers pace
Nine more holes into Tiger Woods’ astounding comeback yesterday was all it took for the bookmakers to run for cover and make him favourite for the Masters in less than three weeks.
As dumb, ridiculous and completely illogical as it sounds, the 42-year-old is ticking so many boxes at such a furious rate of progress there seems little doubt that he will stand on the first tee at Augusta national next month as the man to beat.
A man who will be ranked outside the world’s top 50 by then and possibly outside the top 100 starting out as the pick of the bunch? What extraordinary times we’re living in for the Royal and Ancient sport.
Woods shrugged off his only errant shot — a three-wood at the third (his 12th hole) that flew out of bounds and led to a double bogey — to post another accomplished round of 68 to lie four shots behind the day’s early leader, Henrik Stenson in the first round of the Arnold Palmer invitational.
Like Woods, Patrick Reed continued his good form from the Valspar Championship last week — he finished runner-up alongside the 14-time major champion — with a 68 of his own, while Justin Rose, Rory Mcilroy, Graeme McDowell and Tommy Fleetwood shot 69.
no golfer in history has ever won the same event nine times but good luck to everyone else perched on the leaderboard in their efforts to prevent Tiger’s fourth start since his return from fusion surgery — and his last appearance before the season’s first major — ending in his 80th win in all and a landmark ninth in this tournament alone.
What made this such a formidable round with the Masters in mind was Woods’ work around the greens, which compared very favourably with the glory days of old — and there’s no greater compliment than that.
Chipping from tight lies is an absolute prerequisite for Augusta and at Bay Hill, Tiger made such a precise skill look a breeze.
At the par-five sixth, he had no green to work with but floated a wedge shot so beautifully over a bunker from 25 yards that it nestled next to the flag. His putting wasn’t bad either. At the tough par-three seventh, he was 71 feet away with his tee shot but still rolled it in for his third birdie in four holes, following his ugly double. Just for good measure Woods, who birdied all four par fives, holed another good putt from 15 feet for par at his last hole, the ninth.
‘i’ve got my feels back,’ he warned afterwards, which will probably see his Masters odds fall still further.
‘There’s a lot of gamble-holics out there,’ he said, smiling, when told he was now the favourite.
Defeated by one englishman in Paul Casey last Sunday, Woods might end up duelling another this weekend, as the gutsy Rose made an astonishing recovery from four over par early on.
Scotland’s Martin Laird shot a 72, with compatriot Russell Knox on 74.