Woods returns to Augusta as Masters champion
By RON SIRAK AP Golf Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Tiger Woods returned to Augusta National
Golf Club the way he left it a year ago - in a class by himself.
For the first three years that Woods came to the Masters, the
always-thinking Butch Harmon made certain his star pupil played
practice rounds with former champions.
On Monday, Woods returned to Augusta as one of those former
champions and fittingly played his practice round alone. It was
symbolic of the way Woods finished last year at the Masters -
12 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Woods' victory was a tribute to his ability, but it was also
a tribute to Harmon's brilliant game plan. Local knowledge at
Augusta is so important, Harmon wanted to make certain Woods had
every opportunity to soak up every bit of information possible.
"There is a route around Augusta," three-time winner
Nick Faldo said. "You just have to find it and follow it."
In search of that route, Woods played practice rounds with
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Seve Ballesteros,
Jose Maria Olazabal and other Masters champions.
"That was my main purpose in those practice rounds - to
have him play with people who know how the greens break, know
where the pins will be on Sunday, know what spots you have to
hit on the green to have the ball funnel to the hole," Harmon
said.
Harmon was the perfect schoolmaster, setting up the curriculum
cleverly and selecting the best teachers who shared their insight
willingly. And in Woods, he had a pupil whose learning curve is
as impressive as his tee shots.
"One of the great things about Tiger is how open he is
to information," Harmon said. "He knows that as good
as he is, he can't do it on talent alone. He listens and he soaks
up information like a sponge."
Faldo said it took him "six or seven Masters" to
feel comfortable at Augusta. Woods mastered the layout in one-third
that time, shooting a record 18-under-par last year.
"Another impressive thing about Tiger is how he uses information,"
Harmon said. "He is not afraid to take something he has learned
right out onto the course, whether it's something we are working
on with his swing or something we have talked about on how to
play the course."
There likely is not a better golf course to match Woods' game.
Augusta is wide open with no rough, so while his occasional wild
tee shots may cost him a bogey, they will not cost him a double
bogey or triple bogey like those that did Woods in at the U.S.
Open, British Open and PGA Championship last year.
Woods played 10 holes in those three tournaments a total of
24 strokes over par. But he made only seven bogeys all week at
Augusta last year and never had a score higher than bogey on any
hole.
Watching Woods work his way around Augusta is similar to watching
Nicklaus play the course when he was at his peak.
"I felt if I played well, I would really have to have
some bad breaks to lose at Augusta," Nicklaus said. "With
my length, the hazards weren't there. I hit it over everything,
same as he does. I see no reason why he won't do it again."
While Augusta may already feel like home for Woods, there are
a number of challengers who will give him a run when the 62nd
Masters starts Thursday.
Ernie Els has two firsts, two seconds and two thirds worldwide
this year. Justin Leonard was impressive in coming from five strokes
back to win The Players Championship.
Lee Westwood, the 24-year-old Englishman who won Sunday in
New Orleans, joins Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and David Duval in
the tier of under-30 players right behind Woods, Els and Leonard.
Davis Love III won the last major played - the PGA in August
- and will try to become the first player to win consecutive majors
since Nick Price took the British Open and PGA in 1994.
In fact, the last 13 major championships - dating back to Price
- have been won by 13 different people.
One of the people who could break that streak is John Daly,
winner of the 1995 British Open and playing the most consistent
golf of his troubled career.
Two question marks are Faldo and Greg Norman, who crossed paths
here in 1996 when the Englishman overcame a six-stroke deficit
to catch the Australian on Sunday.
Faldo hasn't been able to putt consistently in nearly two years
and Norman, who has played only 17-1/2 competitive rounds this
year, is not even arriving at Augusta until Tuesday night.
Woods, however, is here. The whoops and hollers that greeted
his arrival on the first tee told that story.
That both his drive and a mulligan landed in the pine needles
well right of the fairway said there is still a long way to go
until Sunday and a possible second green jacket.
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