Sunday, December
1, 2002
Everybody a winner
on first day of Skins
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
INDIO, Calif. (AP)
- Tiger Woods won more skins. Phil Mickelson won more money. And
when the first day of the Skins Game was finally over Saturday,
everybody won something.
Mickelson made his
debut in the event by hitting into the bushes three times, taking
himself out of the hole twice, hitting one shot right-handed and
walking off with $100,000 because of one good swing.
Lefty hit 8-iron
to 4 feet on the eighth hole, which was worth two skins.
"You can hit
the ball all over the map," said Mickelson, who did just
that on Landmark Golf Club. "Tiger played the best of all
four of us. ... But I was able to get some skins because each
hole gives us a fresh opportunity to win."
Woods, coming off
a 14-stroke victory in the 36-hole Grand Slam of Golf, won three
skins and $75,000. He did most of his damage on the first six
holes, which were worth $25,000 each.
Mark O'Meara won
only one hole, but it was worth three skins and $75,000. After
the first two holes were tied with pars, O'Meara hit a soft 5-iron
into 2 feet for birdie on the 192-yard third hole.
Fred Couples made
sure he wasn't shut out. Making his record-tying ninth Skins Game
appearance, Couples hit 5-iron from a sidehill lie in the rough
on No. 9 to about 4 feet for an eagle.
"I thought there
would be an eagle there. I just didn't think it would be mine,"
said Couples, who earned $50,000 for his lone skin.
It was only the third
time in the 20-year history of the Conagra Foods Skins Game that
all four players won something on the first day.
A year ago, nobody
won anything until it was over because of a "validation"
system that no one liked and even fewer people understood.
A skin could not
be won unless the player had the best score on the next hole.
As a result, Greg Norman won the $1 million pot with a birdie
on the second playoff hole, which needed no validation.
"It's great
not to have validation," Woods said. "It's great to
be on the board."
The stakes get even
higher on Sunday. The first three holes will be worth $50,000,
the next five worth $70,000 and the 18th hole is worth $200,000.
Mickelson never had
played in the Skins Game, a format that suits his aggressive style.
He immediately showed about 4,000 fans what they had been missing
by hitting his opening tee shot well right of the fairway into
a small shrub.
"Can you get
them to move back? I'm going to take a crack at this," Mickelson
said. He inverted his pitching wedge for a right-handed shot and
smacked it out of the shrub about 90 yards down the fairway.
Mickelson hit into
another bush on the next hole and had to take a penalty drop,
effectively taking himself out of the hole. On the par-5 sixth,
he hit off a cart path and into more bushes. He thought about
playing it off his knees and claiming relief from the cart path,
but what was the point?
"Tiger was already
15 feet for eagle," he said.
Woods got there with
the best shot of the day _ nothing fancy, just pure power and
perfection with a 3-wood that traveled 271 yards and landed softly
on the upper tier of the green.
"Absolutely
incredible," Couples said. "That was one of the best
shots I've ever seen. That looked like a pitching wedge from 270
yards."
Woods had the best
score, finishing every hole for a 4-under 32, although he had
to work for his skins.
Woods had a 40-foot
eagle putt that caught two-thirds of the hole and lipped out,
and his birdie meant nothing when O'Meara rolled in a 30-footer
to match him.
"There's more
than one way to make a birdie, isn't there?" O'Meara said
to anyone listening as he walked to the next tee.
Woods picked up two
skins on the next hole when he hit 4-iron into 15 feet for birdie,
then made his third straight birdie on No. 6 after that mammoth
3-wood. He again narrowly missed his eagle putt, and Couples had
a chance to match the birdie.
Couples' putt was
just inside Woods' eagle attempt, only it stopped one turn short
of falling. Instead of giving it 10 seconds to drop, Couples tossed
his putter at the cup, the lightest moment of an otherwise casual
round.
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