Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
There’s a new Tiger at Augusta, with Mickelson along for ride
AUGUSTA, GA. » The power off the tee and the sharpness with his short game made him look like the Tiger Woods of old. The smile on his face and the company he kept Tuesday at the Masters — a practice round with Phil Mickelson — suggested someone entirely different.
Woods and Mickelson had not played together at Augusta National since 2009, and even then it wasn’t by choice. They were paired in the final round, and while neither won the green jacket, Lefty shot 67 and got him by one shot.
This time they were partners, and it wasn’t a fair fight against Fred Couples and Thomas Pieters.
Never mind that Mickelson hit his opening tee shot at No. 10 behind a magnolia tree. Unlike that failed foursomes match they played at Oakland Hills in the 2004 Ryder Cup, Mickelson had to play the next shot, too.
The two loudest roars that shattered the morning calm came from Woods making eagle on the two par 5s at No. 13 and No. 15.
“I made a few birdies in there,” Mickelson said. “We had a five-hole stretch. We were 7 under. That was some fun play.”
This was only a snapshot, and it received far more attention because of the stage at Augusta National and the two leading characters. Woods and Mickelson have been longtime rivals, rarely friends and hardly ever partners. But it’s not just with Mickelson. Woods has become a mentor to Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler among other youngsters. Long respected by his peers as the greatest player of his generation, he now has formed relationships with them. Padraig Harrington hardly recognized Woods at Torrey Pines earlier this year when he saw him walk onto the range, exchange a few high-fives and stop to chat.
Woods turned 42 at the end of last year. He has been away from golf for much of the last few years because of his four back surgeries. The Masters will be the first major he plays since the PGA Championship in August 2015.
Perhaps, as Harrington suggested, he simply has mellowed.
“I think they just missed my sharp needle,” Woods said. “This is just like a fraternity. When somebody gets hurt and someone gets sick, we bond. We come and try to support them as best we possibly can. Because we all know what it takes to be at this elite level.”
Regardless, he has come a long way in a short amount of time.
Only last year, Woods said he had trouble just sitting through the dinner at the Masters Club of past champions because of pain from his lower back shooting down his legs.
The low point came last summer when he was arrested on a DUI charge in Florida after police found him asleep behind the wheel, his car parked awkwardly on the side of the road with the engine still running.
“I don’t know the reasoning, but I think your assertion that he has a lot of great relationships with a lot of players, I think that’s accurate,” Mickelson said. “His relationships with the guys on the team are extremely close.”
That includes Mickelson, course.
The last practice round they played together, as best as Mickelson can recall, was 20 years ago. of That was their last practice round at a tournament — until Tuesday.
Woods and Mickelson were chatting off the 10th tee, and up to the 11th tee, and throughout their nine holes of practice. Mickelson tried a variety of flop shots around the 15th green with his 64-degree wedge, and Woods laughed when Lefty holed one of the more difficult shots.
Miserable a year ago, Woods was in a happy place.
And it caused quite a buzz, not only among the thousands who tagged along that made this a practice round unlike any other at the Masters, but the other players.
“I walked past Tiger on the range and I said, ‘I never thought I would see the day — Tiger and Phil playing a practice round at Augusta,”’ Rory McIlroy said. “So we had a bit of a laugh about that. I think both Tiger and Phil have started to take the team stuff a lot more seriously as they have progressed in their careers, and they have obviously become very close . ... And it’s great to see two of the top stars of our game for a long time.”
Bernhard Langer won the 1993 Masters for his second green jacket, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory over Chip Beck. His first Masters victory in 1985was remembered for Curtis Strange twice going for the green when he had the lead and finding water. The 1993 Masters featured Beck choosing to lay up when he was trailing. Langer had a three-shot lead when Beck laid up on the par-5 15th from 236 yards away. He made par, while Langer followed with a birdie to stretch the lead. 20 YEARS AGO (1998) Mark O’Meara became the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to birdie the last two holes for a one-shot victory in the 1998 Masters, which also was the last year the Augusta National gallery witnessed a Jack Nicklaus charge. O’Meara holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67 to beat Fred Couples and David Duval, and at 41 he became the oldest first-time winner of the Masters. Nicklaus, 58, birdied four of his first seven holes and pulled within three shots of the lead, causing so many roars that even Tiger Woods in the group ahead backed off putts. But he settled for a 68 and tied for sixth. 10 YEARS AGO (2008) Four months after Trevor Immelman had a tumor removed from his diaphragm, the South African won the 2008 Masters by three shots over Tiger Woods. He closed with a 75 and joined Arnold Palmer in the record book with the highest closing round by a Masters champion. 5 YEARS AGO (2013) Adam Scott won the 2013 Masters in a playoff over Angel Cabrera, and Australia had a Masters champion after more than a half-century of trying.