Friday, April 7, 2000
Even when Tiger is cold, he's
hot
Scripps Howard News Service
THOMAS O'TOOLE
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tradition says the Masters
doesn't really begin until the back nine on Sunday. These days,
though, it really begins when Tiger Woods walks to the first tee.
Nearly two and a half hours after the first
group teed off on Thursday morning, Augusta National came alive
when Woods, Stewart Cink and Australian amateur Aaron Baddeley
began at 10:38 (Eastern time).
The buzz among the spectators as the golfers
approached the tee was clearly audible. Fans stood 10-to-12 deep,
most able to see only Woods' hat or the club head during his backswing
and follow through.
It hardly mattered. The patrons, as they
are called here, just wanted proximity. That Woods would go on
to shoot a disappointing 3-over-par 75, was also of little consequence.
They know he has come back from bigger holes.
“No matter where he's at, we're still
looking at what he's going to shoot,” said Phil Mickelson,
who shot a 1-under 71. “He has the ability to go out tomorrow
and shoot 66. ... He's a guy we're still watching to see if his
name comes up on the leader board.”
If Woods indeed is out of contention by
the weekend — and he has not broken 70 in nine rounds since
winning here in 1997 — then the pack of fans might spread
to the leaders. But for Thursday at least, Woods was the Masters
field.
Maybe it's because of the aura, but fans
seem to groan louder when he misses and cheer louder when the
ball goes in. Then again, it could just be louder because there
are more fans following him.
His group was rivaled only by the sentimental
pairing of veterans Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player,
winners of a combined 13 green jackets. They were greeted by zesty
cheering when they came to the No. 1 tee.
The difference was no one expected them
to contend. Everyone expected Woods not just to contend but win.
Woods, showing more evidence of his maturity,
maintained his composure insisting that he was pleased with the
round, saying he hit the ball well. Except for two holes —
a double-bogey on No. 10 and a triple on No. 12 — he thought
he played a solid round.
“Walking off 12, I told (caddie) Steve
(Williams) that if we get to 2-over or 3-over, we'll be fine,”
said Woods. “Just give myself legitimate chances and I'll
be all right.”
Instead of berating himself as he might
have at one time for his triple-bogey, Woods calmly went to the
par-5 13th and made birdie, ending his nosedive.
Woods admitted that was a recovery he might
not have made a few years ago. Now, he says he has more shots
at his disposal. The work he has done on rebuilding his swing
since 1997 has given him more confidence. And, quite simply, he
has learned “how to play the game. There are more ways to
shoot a number out there.”
He called his growth process “gradual,”
though some would say his course progress has been meteoric. He's
the top-ranked player in the world, the one the fans flock to
see and the television views watch in numbers that affect the
ratings of other sports, even the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Another lesson he has learned about the
game came right here on the front nine of his first day of the
1997 Masters. He shot 4-over-par 40 and then rallied to post a
tournament-record 18-under 270.
“I wouldn't say (this year) is identical,
but it is reminiscent,” said Woods. “It's a long tournament,
and there's a lot of things that can happen.”
(For more information see http://www.masters.org
or http://www.augustachronicle.com.)
(E-mail Thomas O'Toole of Scripps Howard News Service at otoolet@shns.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
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