Tiger cards 73 but still likes chances
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Perhaps, in hindsight, we were being a bit too optimistic.
Tiger Woods’ name never appeared on the leaderboard Thursday at the Masters. He twice suffered back-toback bogeys. He made key mistakes off the tee at the worst possible time, costing himself a chance at birdies on a couple of Augusta National’s enticing par-5s.
And yet there he was, buoyed by the day’s largest and most boisterous
crowds on a clear, crisp late morning and early afternoon at Augusta National, shooting an unspectacular yet somehow totally acceptable 1-over-par 73 in his first round at the Masters in three years and his first round at a major since the PGA Championship in August 2015.
The 42-year-old Tiger wasn’t great, but he sure wasn’t bad. He looked entirely comfortable walking the hills of Augusta National with that fused back of his and all that newfound confidence earned from his surprisingly strong play in half a dozen tournaments over the past four months.
He ended the day seven strokes off the lead, but that was anything but disconcerting to him.
“73 is fine,” Woods said. “By the end of the week this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up. It’s really hard to run away from it, but it’s also really easy to lose it out there. By the end of the week there will be a bunch of guys with a chance to win this tournament.”
Tiger being Tiger, he’s cer- tain he’ll be one of them.
How does he know this? Let’s call it institutional memory. He has won here four times, and even though the last was 13 years ago now, Woods still feels like he owns the place — the four par-5s in particular.
So it was quite peculiar how he squandered his chances on those holes Thursday. He didn’t take advantage of beautiful tee shots on the second and eighth holes, and then when he needed well-positioned drives on 13 and 15, he ended up in the trees both times. Mistakes all around, and nothing but pars.
“I played the par-5s sloppily,” he said. “That was the difference. Play those halfway decent, get two birdies, and I’m under par.”
Now we know for sure the old Tiger is back.
Doesn’t that comment sound just so like him?
He thinks he’s going to win this thing. He’s behind some of the best names in golf, a collection of all-stars, young and old, all of whom can beat him, but of course he thinks he’s going to win.
His confidence was made possible by one crucial putt and two well-played holes, all on the back nine.
This little run began when Woods hit his tee shot into Rae’s Creek in front of the green on the par-3 12th. He left himself with a 15-foot putt for bogey. Miss it and he would have dropped to 4 over on the day.
He rolled it in.
He then birdied 14 and 16, a mini-Tiger surge, playing the final six holes in 2 under.
“I got myself back in this tournament, and I could have easily let it slip away,” Woods said. “I fought hard to get it back in there, and I’m back in this championship. There’s a lot of holes to be played. There are a lot of guys right around 2-over par, and that will be close to four or five at the end of the day. It’s going to be packed, we knew that. The weather is going to change.
“It will be fun the next 54 holes.”
Interestingly, Woods has never missed the cut at the Masters as a professional. The only time he didn’t make it to the weekend here was in 1996, four months before turning pro.
As he left the 18th green, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“A good, solid start,” he said. He wasn’t on the leaderboard, but he was most definitely back.