Can anyone stop another Tiger tale?
By JOHN MEYER / Scripps Howard News Service
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- PGA Tour golfers like to say they're not competing
with each other, it's every man against the course, and conventional
wisdom has it that Augusta National lost big last year when Tiger
Woods rolled to victory in the Masters.
Woods set a final-score record of 270, 18 under par. What tends
to be forgotten is that he beat the scoring record by only one
shot. And two men shared the previous mark -- Jack Nicklaus in
1965 and Raymond Floyd in 1976.
The gentlemen in the green coats say they won't be panicky
about another Tiger attack when play begins today in the 62nd
Masters Tournament, because one spectacular performance isn't
going to make this place obsolete. Augusta National chairman J
T. Stephens was asked what would happen if Woods went 18 under
again.
"Well," Stephens drawled, "I suppose we'll anoint
him."
If Woods does it again, however, architect Tom Fazio just might
be called in for some Tiger-proofing alterations. This much is
clear: Augusta National is on trial.
Woods won by 12 shots -- a record for any 72-hole major --
but the other players were busy getting beaten by the golf course,
not just Woods. The scoring average for the field was 74 3, the
highest since 1989. Tom Kite's runner-up score of 282 was the
fourth highest since 1983. One reason Woods ran away from the
field was because no one took up the challenge to run with him.
"Last year was an unusual year," Stephens said. "The
record was broken after 32 years, and then only by one shot. We
don't think that's any great cause for alarm."
Tom Watson, who won here in 1977 and 1981, agreed.
"I don't think it needs to be changed because one person
beat the field by 12 shots and the second-place finisher basically
shot the same score that has been traditionally shot at the Masters,"
Watson said. "Now, if everybody in the field were 17, 15,
18 under par --. if there were 15 guys like that -- then you start
thinking about changes."
Some might be surprised to hear Stephens say the membership
was rooting for Woods to break the record.
"I've never seen as much excitement as we had in the clubhouse
last year," Stephens said. "When he made that putt on
18, that clubhouse exploded."
Stephens said the atmosphere had been tense when Woods came
to the 18th tee needing par to break the record. "And when
he pulled his tee shot (left of the fairway), I and a lot of members
expressed the fear that maybe something (distracting) had happened
on the tee that caused him to do that and might cause him not
to break the record. We were surely pulling for him to do it.
It's a great thing for us."
A few changes were made this year, but Stephens said they were
planned before last year's tournament. Greens on the sixth, eighth
and 14th holes have been rebuilt for "agronomic reasons "
The 11th tee was moved 20 feet to the right to offset the loss
of a pine that protected the right side. Trees were planted on
Nos. 13 and 18.
One of the more outspoken advocates of strengthening Augusta's
defenses is Gary Player, Masters champion in 1961, 1974 and 1978.
"Not for one man, but for many young people who hit the
ball extremely far," Player said. "Equipment change
has been so significant that golf (courses) will eventually become
obsolete."
Player would like to see bunkers added on the first and eighth
holes -- beyond bunkers that already exist -- to give the long
hitters narrower landing areas. He also would like to see a new
bunker on the 15th hole, saying drives there roll 40 yards farther
than they did when he was in his prime because of improved drainage
methods.
"A man's got enough advantage being long," said Player,
still a hardened physical specimen at age 62, "so don't give
him twice the advantage."
Some say the solution is adding rough, but Will Nicholson,
who is chairman of the Augusta National competition committees,
says flatly: "That won't happen." Nicklaus has been
advocating for years that something be done with the compression
of the ball.
Every year the PGA Tour fitness trailer attracts more conditioning
converts, equipment technology produces more length, and the concern
about obsolete golf courses grows.
"It's a constant question," Stephens said. "Everybody
has concerns about their golf course. But until the players use
this new equipment and prove to us that scores are too low, we're
not worried."
(John Meyer writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver ).
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