Tiger playing by new rules
No need to withdraw over illegal drop Friday, world No. 1 argues
AUGUSTA, GA.— Tiger Woods knows it was his comments to the press that got him into a two-stroke jackpot Saturday at the Masters. But he also knows he messed up.
“You know, I wasn’t even really thinking. I was still a little ticked at what happened,” he said of his wedge to Friday’s 15th hole that bounced off the inch-wide flagstick and into the pond, necessitating a drop. “I was just trying to figure out, ‘OK, I need to take some yardage off this shot’ and that’s all I was trying to think about. Evidently, it was pretty obvious I didn’t drop it in the right spot.”
He said he never considered disqualifying himself, as various TV voices urged him to Saturday morning.
“Under the rules of golf, I can play. I was able to go out there and compete,” he said. “If it was done a year or two ago, whatever, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play. But the rules have changed.”
MCILROY BOMBS: Rory McIlroy got to 2 under, but bombed out of the tournament with a third-round 79, the fuses being a triple-bogey at the 11th hole and a double-bogey at 15, both times with balls in the water.
“I never recovered from that,” he said of his dunked wedge at 11. “Same sort of thing happened at 15. I feel like I hit a good second shot in, the wind gusts back into me, it pitches on the green, but comes back in the water. It’s disappointing, especially with such a good start.”
GUAN HUMS ALONG: Guan Tianlang, who made the cut on the 10shot rule after being assessed a slow-play penalty Friday, completed a 5-over 77 Saturday without any time warnings, as far as he knew.
“It’s great for me and I think I had a pretty good run in the first two days,” said the 14-year-old, whose three-round total of 225 leaves him one behind three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson. “Today feels pretty good, not badly. I did a couple unlucky, but that’s golf.”
Mickelson, who found water on each hole at Amen Corner, said it was “heartbreaking” to play so poorly at a tournament he loves so much.
“I just played terrible,” he said. “This is the one event I look forward to more than anything, and it’s just kind of heartbreaking to play the way I’ve been playing. Disap- pointed in myself.”
IRON MAN: South African Tim Clark made a big move with a 5-under 67 to get to 213, begun with a hole-out from the sand at No. 4 to a tee shot that stopped six inches from the cup on No. 16.
“I think I missed eight putts inside 10 feet (Friday). I don’t think it’s that much of a putting contest out there,” Clark said. “You’ve got to hit the ball so good around here, particularly your irons. That’s all I really did today.”