Borderline unplayable conditions can’t stop Tiger
As if playing golf isn’t eternally tough enough, Tiger Woods has been dealing with two other notoriously difficult adversaries at the 88th Masters: Father Time and Mother Nature.
Woods has spoken frankly about the vagaries of life on a golf course a couple of years shy of his 50th birthday while lugging around a body ravaged by untold surgeries.
“I ache,” Woods said in the lead-up to the tournament.
And as for Mother Nature — well, as much as the folks who run the Masters can occasionally make you believe they’ve brought her to heel with their nothing-out-of-place version of her bounty, she reminded everyone she’s still in charge on Friday by supplying winds gusting beyond 70 km/h. It’s not often you see stray beer cups blowing down fairways as if the Masters is one big, out-of-control frat party (which it kind of is). It’s not often you see sand drifting out of the bunkers like snow in Timmins in February, and seemingly stationary golf balls suddenly moving on greens.
Defending champion Jon Rahm called it “borderline” that play wasn’t halted as the strength of the bluster seemingly increased through the day.
“I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on 11 green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult,” said Rahm, whose 5-over-par total through two rounds put him a shot inside the cut line.
“I don’t know if I’ve really seen that much sand on greens,” said Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, who missed the cut by a shot and, judging by the video evidence, appeared to direct a profanity at patrons after he was jeered in the midst of a triple-bogey six at the par-3 12th.
And, for all of that, for a record 24th straight time at the Masters, Woods made the cut — this time with strokes to spare. After his second-round 72, the five-time Masters champion will begin Saturday at 1 over par, seven shots back of the lead shared by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa at 6 under.
Said Woods, who hit 25 of 28 fairways in the opening two rounds: “It means I have a chance going into the weekend. I’m here, I have a chance to win the golf tournament.”
As for the Canadian content? Corey Conners, who has finished in the top 10 three times here, was threatening the top of the leaderboard at 3 under par through eight holes when his round suddenly lost its shape. In the span of three holes (a bogey on No. 9 followed by doubles on 10 and 11) Conners dropped five shots.
A birdie on 12 steadied the ship, but the damage was done. Conners, at 2 over par for the tournament, and Adam Hadwin (4 over) are the only Canadians who’ll play the weekend. Countrymen Mike Weir (7 over) and Nick Taylor (a disastrous 14 over) missed the cut.
Said Hadwin, describing the wind-induced indecision over the ball that led to some golfers clocking in with six-hour rounds: “You’re standing over the golf ball basically guessing half the time.”
Conners, playing his sixth Masters, called it one of the more difficult days he’s experienced on a golf course, and certainly the windiest he’d encountered at Augusta National.
Even 58-year-old José Maria Olazábal, the two-time champion competing here for the 35th time, rated the level of difficulty off the charts.
“From 1 to 10,” Olazábal said, “I would give it an 11 … I don’t think it gets any tougher than this.”
Said Tommy Fleetwood, last year’s Canadian Open runner-up and in the hunt at 1 under: “It’s a pretty stressful place to play when (the wind is) like this. Nothing’s ever done — like, nothing’s safe, ever. Like whether you’ve got a threefooter or whatever it is, you’re just never done until you’ve actually got the ball in the hole.”
At least no towering pine trees fell over, as in last year’s tournament. Or — with all due respect to Mother Nature’s unpredictable whims — at least not yet.
In weighing the challenges of battling the ravages of age with the force of Friday’s gales, Woods, whose day began with the completion of the final five holes of an opening round suspended by darkness, sounded more concerned with the universal reality of a long day on the job.
“I’m tired. I’ve been out for a while, competing, grinding,” Woods said. “It’s been a long 23 holes, a long day … Just need some food and some caffeine and I’ll be good to go.”