Save the superlatives for this young man
By David Newton
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Jack Nicklaus has done just about everything
humanly possible at Augusta National.
But when asked if he'd ever tried to drive the 360-yard, par-4
third hole he laughed and said, "No, I never liked that chip
from down there. No, of course not."
Told that Tiger Woods, who leads the Masters by three strokes
after Friday's second-round, 6-under-par 66, almost has driven
the hole twice, Nicklaus' jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Well, I'm going to tell you one thing," said Nicklaus,
the winner of a record six green jackets. "It's a shame Bobby
Jones isn't here. He could have saved the superlatives he had
for me in '63 for this young man, because he's certainly playing
a game we're not familiar with."
Most of Nicklaus' peers would agree after watching Woods go
8-under par after two rounds for a 136, 12 under over the last
27 holes after a 4-over 40 on the front nine of Thursday's first
round.
Colin Montgomerie, in second place after a second-round 67,
said his chances of winning the tournament "depends on how
Mr. Woods fares, really."
Said Costantino Rocca, who is in third place with a 4-under,
140 total, "If (Woods) stays like this, he's No. 1 and will
win the tournament."
Perhaps the only person who wouldn't agree with Nicklaus is
Woods. He left a room full of reporters waiting for his post-round
news conference while he hit two bags of balls on the driving
range.
"I can always get better," said Woods, who at 21
is the youngest player to lead the Masters. "There were a
couple of shots I hit out there that I didn't like."
If Woods improves much, he'll make a shambles out of the 61st
Masters. After Montgomerie and Rocca, his closest competitors
are Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Price and Paul Azinger. They are
five strokes back at 3-under 141.
First-round leader John Huston put three balls into the water
on the 500-yard, par-5 15th en route to a 10 on the hole and a
5-over 77 that left him at even par 144.
Defending champion Nick Faldo shot an 81 that included a quadruple-bogey
9 on the par-5 13th. He missed the cut with a two-day total of
12-over 156, seven strokes more than the cut.
"I'm shell-shocked," Faldo said before a quick exit.
Nineteen players were below par Friday, after a first round
that saw only seven, because of easier pin placements and softer
greens.
But nobody did it more spectacularly than Woods, who took the
lead at 6-under with a 20-foot eagle putt on the 485-yard 13th.
Woods had birdies on 2, 5, 8, 14 and 15. His only bogey came on
the third hole, where he had a poor chip and missed a six-foot
par putt after driving just short of the green.
"That's it," Woods said matter-of-factly as he summed
up his round.
That was enough. Arnold Palmer shot 66 or better here only
once. Byron Nelson did it only once. Ben Hogan's best round was
a 67.
Nicklaus, who has shot 66 or better five times, knows better
than anybody how Woods must feel.
"The year I shot the 64 and set the record (in 1965),
that round of golf was just like walking down Main Street,"
he said. "(I hit) 10 wedges or something that day. Tiger
has the ability to do that. That's why this young man is so special.
He makes the golf course into nothing."
For the second straight day, Woods hit a wedge into the 15th
hole after hitting a 349-yard drive. Unlike Thursday, when he
sank a four-foot eagle from a much tougher pin placement, Woods
missed an eight-foot eagle putt and settled for par.
Nicklaus, who eagled the hole en route to a 70 and 3-over total,
couldn't believe Woods' shot into 15 on Thursday any more than
he believed Woods tried to drive No. 3.
"I can't imagine anybody hitting the ball at that pin,"
Nicklaus said. "I saw guys laying up, and everyone of them
laid it out to the right 20 feet away. Or anybody with any sense
did.
"And I saw he was down there, and I said, "Good,
gracious. How can you leave yourself an uphill putt on this hole
for an eagle?' And he did. He reduced the golf course down to
nothing."
Woods, who never broke par here in six rounds as an amateur,
isn't surprised.
"It's what I came here to do, to try and win the tournament,"
he said. "At the halfway point I'm in the lead, which is
nice. But it's only the halfway point. I need to go out (today)
and shoot a good round and get myself in position for Sunday."
The weather could help. There's an 80 percent chance of rain,
which would make the course play longer and the greens hold more
shots. That seemingly would make Woods more dangerous.
He all but admitted it, saying rain would make the course "easy."
Woods said he even may try to drive No. 3 again.
"It all depends on where the pin is," he said. "Today
it was in the middle-back. If the pin gets anywhere near the front,
I'm laying well back."
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