Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Tiger has a master plan for Augusta
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — One hour before a nine-hole
sprint to the finish at The Players Championship, 21 of the 22
players who returned to complete the final round were warming
up on the practice range.
Tiger Woods was not among them.
He was working alone on the back end of the range in a secluded
area of chipping greens tucked behind the trees.
Swing coach Butch Harmon stood at his side, arms crossed, as Woods
practiced an assortment of short-game shots — a bump-and-run
up the slope, a pitch that screams up the hill and skids to a
halt, a soft flop shot from 25 yards away.
He didn't need any of those shots Monday when he held off Vijay
Singh to win The Players Championship.
But that was never the purpose of this practice.
Even with a $6 million purse and a prestigious tournament like
The Players Championship at stake, the Masters is never far from
his mind.
Woods started the final round Sunday two strokes behind, and made
up that deficit in unlikely fashion by holing a 90-foot chip for
eagle, a beautiful bump-and-run up the ridge with a pace so perfect
that it barely touched the pin when it dropped in the hole.
“It was reminiscent to the chip I was practicing last night,
back in the chipping area,” he said, recalling a Saturday
evening session similar to the one Monday morning. “I was
just kind of practicing those type of shots and getting ready
for Augusta. It's like the same chip you would find on No. 11,
if you bail out to the right, kind of chip it across to the green.”
No one else practiced that way.
For two days in a row, Singh placed an umbrella at his feet for
alignment and a water bottle about a foot away from his right
shoe to keep the club from coming too far inside. He struck each
shot from behind the previous divot, digging a trench as he tried
to perfect his swing.
“I've looked forward to this since I left here last year,”
he said earlier in the week.
Jerry Kelly practiced patience. He was trying to make The Players
Championship his first tour victory, which would have brought
him a three-year exemption to the Masters. When he left the course
Saturday night as the 54-hole leader, he had only one thing on
his mind.
“Just try to hit a good drive off the first tee,” he
said.
While Woods had one eye on Augusta, he also managed to stay in
the present. When he finished his short-game work Monday morning,
he teed up a ball in the middle of the chipping area and took
one last swing, this time with a 3-wood.
The ball sailed over the palms, curved gently away from a corporate
hospitality area and landed in the middle of the range. Fifteen
minutes later, when it counted, Woods hit a similar shot with
the same club. This one found the middle of the 10th fairway,
and the 7-iron that followed spun back to 2 inches from the cup
for a tap-in birdie that sent him on his way.
The victory was important to Woods because the tournament is widely
considered the fifth major, and the only one he had not already
won. He joined Jack Nicklaus as the only men to win the Grand
Slam and The Players Championship.
Was a victory critical to his chances at Augusta?
No.
Does it give him some serious momentum going into the Masters
with a chance to become the first player in history to hold all
four major championships at the same time?
Not really.
“Whether I win or not, it's not going to change the way I
prepare, or change the way I feel about my chances,” Woods
said.
When asked about his game going into the Masters — as if
back-to-back victories for the seventh time in his career was
not indication enough — Woods said he was pleased.
“My practice sessions this week have been pretty good,”
he said. “My short game ... I'm pretty happy with it. I'm
headed in the right direction, no doubt about that. It's nice
to see a lot of hard work paying off.”
The final preparations will take place this week at Isleworth,
his private club outside Orlando where the greens are running
close to 14 on the Stimpmeter. Woods will not have the distractions
of winning a tournament or hitting into an island that passes
as a par 3.
He learned at an early age how to prepare for the biggest tournaments,
even before he turned pro and the only major on the landscape
was the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur. He won them both
three years in a row.
“I was able to peak for them,” Woods said. “It's
learning how to get your mind and body ready for that one week.”
There are four weeks now, but for the moment, only one week matters.
Whether Woods can make history at the Masters will be determined
next week. He can at least say he was ready.
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
