Tiger keeps everyone at Augusta guessing
Tiger Woods arrived later than usual yesterday for a Masters that is different from all the others he has played.
No one was sure what to expect from him.
Woods offered a quick glimpse that it could be just about anything. He hooked his tee shot so far left that it nearly went into the ninth fairway. And then he hit a shot to about 1.8m and rolled in the putt for birdie.
“I felt like I had to get my game into a spot where I felt I could compete to win a golf tournament and it’s finally there,” Woods said after playing 11 holes. He played the front nine with Mark O’Meara, then the 10th and 18th holes before darkness.
More relevant than any of his shots — including his chipping, which looked fine — was the atmosphere.
The first official day of practice at Augusta National was filled with warmth and optimism for the first major of the year. Rory McIlroy, No 1 in the world and going for a career Grand Slam, played 18 holes with British Amateur champion Bradley Neil. Steve Stricker is playing for the first time all year. Jason Day took four hours on the back nine alone, letting groups through so he could chip and putt, the key to winning a green jacket. And then Woods arrived. Fans ran to the side of the practice area when his cart pulled up, with one man holding a digital camera high above his head for a picture. Fittingly, Woods headed straight for the chipping area and went through two bags of balls before heading to the first tee with O’Meara.
Woods is playing for the first time since February 5. He was off nearly five months when he returned at the Masters in 2010 following the scandal in his personal life, but he was No 1 in the world back then. His last competition was a victory in the Australian Masters.
Now he is No 111. In his last tournament this year, he walked off the course at Torrey Pines after 11 holes. Before that, he shot 82 and missed the cut in the Phoenix Open. In both events, he played 47 holes and hit chips that either didn’t reach the green from 4.5m away or went some 23m over the green.
That’s when he stepped away, saying his game was not acceptable and he would not return until it was.
After his opening birdie, Woods tossed a two balls short of the green to work on his chipping. He hit 14 chips — two balls each from various hollows around the green to different pin positions. Most looked reasonable. Some looked good.
“Chipping was fine,” Woods said. “I wanted to test out some wedges out here. That’s why I was chipping a little bit more — a couple different bounce settings, because it’s a little bit different than Florida. We figured the right one out.”
The real test comes on Friday, when the shots count. What he showed yesterday certainly looked acceptable, and it was a treat for the fans who normally would be headed home after a long day at Augusta. The first hole was packed when Woods and O’Meara teed off at 4.20pm, and more than 2000 kept following him. Dozens of fans raced over from the second fairway to the fourth tee to get a good spot.
Remember, you’re not supposed to run at Augusta National.
“I hope he’s happy. I hope he’s fine,” US Open champion Martin Kaymer said. “I hope he will play well this week. But what would bother me a lot is all the speculation. You don’t have a choice. You will read about it somewhere. You will hear about it because you socialise with people. So mentally, it must be quite exhausting, and we know how important the mental part is in golf.”
“So it’s difficult, and some things I don’t find very fair,” he said. “You should just let him be. Let him play golf, what he likes to do.”
The last image of Woods was the best player of his generation at his