EASY TIGER
Woods rolls back the years with opening 70 at Augusta
This is how much America is willing Tiger Woods to win at Augusta. The odds on him wearing the green jacket a fifth time close to halved after a shot. Just one shot. his first, from the tee at 11.04am local time yesterday.
The moment Woods sent his opening drive of the day down the middle of the hole known as Tea Olive, America phoned its bookie.
Not those on the course. The patrons, as they are known, aren’t allowed cell phones or contact with the outside world. There are cults with looser arrangements about calling home than the organisers of the Masters.
But beyond these verdant parameters, on the sofa, in the office, anywhere with a connection to a screen, a tracker and a source of disposable income, money was changing hands. Big money, judging by the shift in prices. As the patrons craned for a glimpse of their guy as he walked ramrod straight down the fairways, others were frantically crunching numbers.
Tiger Woods: he moves crowds, he moves markets. he’s the man, as they never tire of telling him.
here’s how American betting works. Woods’ price when the market opened was +1,600. That is what a gambler would win for a hundred dollar stake. it’s our equivalent of 16/1. so Woods arrived on the first tee at +1,600, hit one shot and was cut to +1,050. Coming off the second, having made birdie, he was +850 — or a British 17/2. There were 70 holes to go, of a possible 72.
if Woods is, as many believe, rolling back not just years but decades, it pays to be an early adopter. By the time he made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14, Woods was three under par and tied for the lead.
he gave one back later, but the significance of his round yesterday cannot be overstated. For a start, there is the fact that the last 13 winners of this tournament have been in the top ten at the end of day one; then there is the rarity of Woods tearing up even his favourite course at the first opportunity.
Woods has played Augusta 21 times as a professional and only once, in 2010, has he shot sub-70 on Thursday. his score yesterday mimicked the three rounds of 70 that each ended in a Masters victory in 1997, 2001 and 2002; his last green jacket, in 2005, began with a round of 74. so this was a fine start by a player who resurgence is as miraculous as it is welcome.
Woods has been back for over a year now, but 12 months ago he came to Augusta still unsure of his game, his skeleton and where it could take him. he knows, now.
he can’t say he will ever be the player he was — because that was a player like no other — or whether he will win a major again; but he knows he has enough to compete, to unnerve the next generation, who will see his name around the leaderboard again, and inwardly shudder.
They all talked about wanting to compete with Woods again. Now they can. Be careful what you wish for. here was Woods, back in the driving seat, hitting the ball long and straight and true, drawing justified gasps from an informed gallery, not the fake ones from folks who think it is possible to geddinahole from the tee of a par five.
Even those who have seen the best of Woods at Augusta were struggling to recall an occasion when he has hit his driver better.
he barely missed a fairway through the first 13 holes, barely missed the heart of one in fact,
Resurgent Woods didn’t just play Augusta... he took it on!
and was frequently the longest in his group. Often the bravest, too.
Woods didn’t just play Augusta, he took it on, as he did in his prime, and as the buzz around him grew, so did his gallery.
Golf, we are often told, is not a young man’s game, but Woods is an icon to young and old. As he strode past, no slouching, the rigid gait of a man whose rebuilt spine is an achievement as great as his 14 majors, there was a noticeably youthful presence trying to catch his attention from behind the ropes.
‘All these high-school kids they got working here,’ observed one patron to his friend, ‘when they’re not working they’re following Tiger’s ass.’ And why not? Yesterday, if you could get a view, it was the ass to follow.
There was always something happening around it. Birdies, birdie putts, some amazing golf, brief outbreaks of disgust at occasional shortcomings. And drama. The drama of watching one of the giants of sport — not just golf — attempting to reconnect with his past. He played a bunker shot on seven that was as perfect as could be, without dropping, he made two birdies that began with his loosest shots from the tee. ‘No, no, no,’ he murmured on nine, as he leaked into the semi-rough; but his second was so good he got down in three.
On 14, he missed the fairway horribly left — there were shouts of fore to alert the crowd — but escaped the trees with such panache he had a putt of 25 feet for birdie. At that point, three decades of Augusta experience told.
Others in the field may be younger, fitter, may never have seen the end looming as Woods did two years ago, but they don’t know these greens as he does.
The successful birdie putt caressed every contour, as fondly as any old flame. If he can stay in touch through the next 48 hours, no one will have better knowledge of what it takes to win here.
Miss in the right spot. That is key to Augusta.
On the 15th, to his horror, Woods went screaming through the green. He had a landing area measured in feet. Too long, and the ball could roll and end up in the water; too short and he’d face the same peril again. Woods was short, but in a way he could manage. There are some advantages to being 43.
He gave one back at the 17th. That was a shame.
Woods hit right from the tee, played a solid escape shot, but had too much to do on the green and bogeyed. It left him a shot off the lead.
Sand on the 18th tee, but he recovered from that, too. He would have bought this when he arrived here, no doubt.
Certainly, he would have bought it when he was contemplating retirement two years ago.
America is buying it, too. Buy Tiger. Buy the legend. Buy the resurrection. Buy the possibility of amazing. Buy, buy, buy.