Monday, April 10, 2000
Woods can't find magic on Tiger-proofed
course
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods spent
20 minutes working his way through Amen Corner on Sunday. He didn't
look up at the leaderboard once.
Then again, he didn't really need to.
By the time he reached No. 11, he knew where
he stood. He was five strokes off the lead and needed more than
a courageous charge to win another Masters. He needed everyone
else to completely collapse.
Neither happened.
On a day in which he played well enough
to get into contention early, but not well enough to muster a
heroic run at the leaders, Woods shot a 3-under-par 69. He finished
at 4 under for the tournament, in fifth place.
That was six strokes behind champion Vijay
Singh, who helped push Tiger's historic 1997 victory a little
further into the memory banks.
“At least I gave myself a chance after
Thursday,” Woods said, referring to the opening-round 75
that proved too big a deficit to overcome. “For some reason,
the golfing gods weren't looking down on me this week.”
It was more than the golfing gods. It was
the course architects at Augusta National, too.
They're the ones who began a campaign to
Tiger-proof their layout after Woods blew through it in 1997.
He set the record with a 270 and had many people thinking that
nobody would ever beat him here.
Since then, some holes have been lengthened.
The fairways have been tightened by a new cut of rough and some
of the greens have been recontoured.
Woods went 10 rounds after his title without
breaking 70. He shot 68-69 over the weekend to finally break that
spell, but conceded that the Masters has changed.
“No doubt about it,” he said.
“It's a tough test now. I'm not saying it wasn't tough back
then. But it's tougher now because obviously you've got to drive
the ball better and you've still got to be tough with the irons.”
His iron play was good enough — he
hit 71 percent of the greens over the tournament — and naturally,
Woods thought victory was possible until the end.
But there were no fist pumps, uppercuts
or smiles. Just a beleaguered look, even when things went right.
After a birdie on No. 15, he plucked the
ball out of the hole with the vigor of a player who had just made
double bogey. His face looked pained.
Then, the clincher. His foot flew out of
his backswing on No. 16. He dangled his leg above the ground and
watched helplessly as the ball landed well left and in back of
the green. He ended up with a bogey — an end to his chances,
but not his dreams.
“If I could somehow birdie 17 and 18,
you never know,” he said. “Vijay still had to play over
some water on 15, and we had seen some pretty high numbers there.”
The birdies didn't come. Neither did the
collapse from Singh or anyone else.
Thus, Woods failed to capitalize on a sizzling
start. He made his way around the front nine in 3 under —
his best nine holes of the tournament. He birdied Nos. 2, 4, 7
and 8 and bogeyed No. 6.
Each time those birdies were posted on the
scoreboard at Amen Corner, a roar from fans in that gallery erupted,
a new red number bringing a bigger reaction than the shots being
played right in front of them.
They expected Woods to be on the prowl when
he finally got there.
But by the time he arrived, the ardor had
cooled — and not just among the fans.
“I don't think he ever got to within
three of me,” Singh said. “I wasn't worried about that.
I was just thinking about my own game.”
Singh had a five-stroke lead over Woods
by the time he finished No. 12, and suddenly, he was the toast
of Amen Corner. Only David Duval and Ernie Els were challenging
the leader by then.
Still, it was a spirited comeback from the
best player in the world. Where others might have folded, Woods
came back to contend, however briefly.
“I was very close, very close,”
Woods said. “I still gave myself a chance. I'm proud of that.”
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