Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Woods takes aim at Augusta
after Florida triumph
By Craig Dolch
c. 2000 Cox News Service
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Now that
Tiger Woods has won the one major golf prize he didn't own —
The Players Championship — his sights are squarely set on
making more history.
No more thinking ahead to the Masters, where
Woods will try to become the first player in the modern era to
hold all four major titles at the same time. Because as far as
Woods is concerned, the Masters is here.
Woods showed his game is ready for Augusta
National on Monday by winning The Players Championship by a shot
over Vijay Singh. It was Woods' first professional victory in
five tries at Pete Dye's famous Stadium Course and his second
in as many weeks.
Woods had one anxious moment during Monday's
rain-delayed, nine-hole conclusion as his tee shot to the island
17th green stopped within inches of rolling over the wooden planks
into the water. But he saved par with an eight-foot putt, allowing
him to play the tough 18th hole conservatively and win with a
bogey.
“It's extremely rewarding to win a
championship like this on an extremely demanding course with probably
the best field assembled in all of golf,” Woods said after
finishing with a 67 that left him at 14-under 274.
As much as Woods wants to win every time
he tees it up, he has made no secret of his desire to have all
four of the current major championship trophies sitting on the
mantel above the fireplace of his Isleworth home. That's why Woods
has spent hours — even this weekend — working on shots
he'll need to use at Augusta National next week.
Someone actually asked Woods after his second
consecutive victory if he was happy with his game heading into
the Masters. Woods' answer was understated.
“I feel as if I'm headed in the right
direction, no doubt about that,” Woods said. “I feel
very pleased at what I'm able to do on the golf course and that
the changes I've made in my game are starting to come together.”
No less confident about his chances at the
Masters is the defending champion. Singh caught Woods with a birdie
on the 13th hole Monday, but quickly fell four back when Woods
birdied the 12th and Singh uncharacteristically triple-bogeyed
the 14th.
Singh pull-hooked his drive into the water
left of the fairway, tossing the driver onto the ground and then
kicking it. After a penalty drop and another shot from the front
of the tee box, he then missed the green, chipped on and two-putted
for a 7. Singh later rallied with an eagle at the par-5 16th,
when he used the toe of his putter like a croquet mallet to make
a 15-footer from the rough next to the water, then a birdie at
No. 17. But he clearly knew where he lost the tournament.
“I made one bad swing, and that's all
it takes on any hole here with any water,” Singh said. “That's
OK. I did the best I could, but it looks like Tiger is going to
get me again.”
Singh's victory at the Masters last year
was overshadowed when Woods won the next three majors by a combined
24 shots. Woods also beat Singh in a singles match at last year's
Presidents Cup when Singh's caddy, Paul Tesori, wore a hat that
said “Tiger who?”
Singh, who lives five miles away and said
he would have been at the course Monday to practice if the tournament
had not gone an extra day, will spend the rest of the week here
working on his game. He'll then head to Augusta early next week
and hope he gets another shot to take on Woods.
“My whole game is in tune right now,
and I just need to not make dumb mistakes like I did today,”
Singh said.
Boca Raton resident Bernhard Langer had
a wild back nine — five birdies, three bogeys and a par —
to shoot 67 and finish third at 276. Longtime Stuart resident
Jerry Kelly, who started the final round with a two-shot lead,
failed in his try to become the first player to make this event
his first PGA Tour title. Kelly shot a 73 and finished alone in
fourth.
Kelly said the intimidation advantage Woods
might have had on players last year is dissipating. But he credited
Woods' amazing play the last two years as the reason why.
“I don't think he's lost anything,”
Kelly said. “I think we have just gained. He has raised the
bar so high, and that's bringing everybody else up to another
level. He's taken the game further, which is fantastic for us.”
And now Woods wants to take it a further
still. He knows nobody has ever won The Players and the Masters
in the same year, but he has spent most of his brilliant career
re-writing history.
What's to stop him now?
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