Woods at a standstill in third round of Masters
By DOUG FERGUSON / AP Sports Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- The safe shot would have been to lay up
in front of Rae's Creek, and Tiger Woods knew it. He also realized
the Masters was slipping away from him.
Saturday was moving day in the Masters, and Woods wasn't going
anywhere.
That much was evident from the large white scoreboard posted
behind the 13th green at Augusta National. Of the nine players
listed, all were under par and none was named Woods.
"I knew I had to get something going," he said.
With his ball nestled on a bed of pine needles still 225 yards
away from the par-5 13th, Woods pulled a 4-iron from the bag and
took dead aim at the creek running down the right side of the
green.
The ball bent back gently to the left and stopped 25 feet under
the hole to set up a two-putt birdie -- not the eagle he wanted,
but enough to get him headed down the road to recovery.
"Today was probably the best 72 I ever shot in my life,"
Woods said.
Only this wasn't the day for a scrambling 72.
The turbulent wind that had allowed only four rounds in the
60s over the first two days of the Masters gave way to a gentle
spring breeze, perfect conditions for the kind of scores Woods
posted last year when he won with a record 18-under 270.
If Woods indeed owns Augusta National -- remember, Jack Nicklaus
predicted he would win at least 10 green jackets -- this was the
day to prove it.
All Woods proved was that he is not immune from three-putts
on the rock-hard, contoured greens. After going 113 straight holes
without one, he three-putted the first green Saturday from about
40 feet, and did it again on the 17th.
And he showed that unless he can figure out his inconsistent
iron play, he'll be putting the green jacket on someone else's
shoulders Saturday afternoon.
"I was short, I was left, I was long, I was right,"
Woods said. "I know where I need to hit it, I'm just not
executing the shot. I'm not that far off. But here, not far off
can mean a lot."
He found that out in a hurry. Woods misplayed three of his
first four iron shots, leading to bogeys at No. 1 and the par-3
fourth, and missing a golden opportunity for birdie at the par-5
second hole when he hit a 7-iron thin into a greenside bunker.
Woods went into a tailspin on the par-3 sixth hole when he
came up short off the tee, and his flop wedge caught the ridge
below the hole and rolled back into the fairway. He pitched eight
feet past the hole and two-putted for double bogey.
"Obviously, I wasn't paying attention," he said.
After flying a wedge over the seventh green and having to save
par, he already had lost eight strokes to playing partner Jay
Haas.
Of course, Woods wasn't the only one to have problems. Haas,
one of four players who at one time were tied for the lead, gave
it back by chunking an 8-iron into the water on the par-3 12th
for double bogey. He later stubbed a chip on the 18th and needed
a 6-footer to save bogey to finish at 2-under 214.
David Duval, the co-leader with Couples when the day began,
had a 74. Scott Hoch (73) also failed to break par on a day when
the scoring average was 71.435.
Woods now has gone 10 straight rounds without breaking 70,
the longest streak of his professional career.
"It was one of those days when I just didn't have it,"
Woods said.
Woods, who has talked the past month about peaking for the
Masters, has one more day to find it.
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