Tiger
Woods at the mercy of Augusta
One bad swing.
One gust out of Amen Corner.
Just like that,
Tiger Woods' chance of winning the Grand Slam began to slip away.
He surrendered five shots to par in two holes, signed for 75 in
the first round and never caught up in the Masters.
That was last
year.
It was a time
when Woods was so dominant that he had won or finished second in
10 of 11 PGA Tour events when he arrived at Augusta National. And
it was a time when everyone, including Woods, assumed the Grand
Slam meant winning all four major championships in the same year,
starting with the Masters.
The circumstances
will be similar when the 65th Masters begins Thursday.
Woods is the
overwhelming favorite, especially after winning his last two tournaments
at Bay Hill and The Players Championship.
A Grand Slam
is at stake, even if the definition is subject to debate.
Woods is the
reigning champion in the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship,
and now has a chance to become the first player in history to hold
the trophies of all four professional majors at the same time.
``If Tiger
Woods wins this tournament, it will be the greatest achievement
in modern day golf,'' Augusta chairman Hootie Johnson proclaimed
Wednesday on the final day of practice.
 |
|
Tiger
Woods during his practice round yesterday. Allsport.
|
One other thing
will never change.
No matter how
talented Woods is, no matter how much control he has of his game
or how much intimidation his name on a leaderboard is worth, his
greatest challenge will come from the course.
Augusta National
always has the final word.
The humps and
bumps on the most severe greens in championship golf can turn a
seemingly good shot into a disaster. The wind blows as it pleases.
It requires nothing short of precision, from the opening tee shot
to the uphill climb at the 18th.
``That's one
of the reasons why we love to play, that challenge of it,'' Woods
said. ``You know what you need to do, and sometimes it's just tough
doing it.''
It all starts
to unfold Thursday at a course that has been softened by two days
of light rain. Sam Snead and Byron Nelson will hit their ceremonial
tee shots at 8 a.m. to kick off one of the most anticipated tournaments
ever.
``The bigger
the tournament, the more excited all of us are about playing,''
Woods said.
The contenders
are numerous.
Defending champion
Vijay Singh has finished no worse than fourth in his last six tournaments
and never has been so confident about the treacherous, contoured
greens.
``I'm not going
to lay down this week,'' said Singh, trying to join Jack Nicklaus
and Nick Faldo as the only repeat Masters champions.
Phil Mickelson
has won five times over the past two years, twice at Woods' expense.
Davis Love III had a Tiger-like comeback to win at Pebble Beach,
then played in the final group Sunday in his next three tournaments.
``When you
get out there and get excited about the Masters, you seem to do
everything a little bit better,'' Love said.
The challenge
might come from 46-year-old Greg Norman, who is keenly aware that
Nicklaus was 46 when he won the Masters - although Nicklaus already
had won five of them and the Shark will have to block out the memory
of five close calls.
Still, all
the attention is on Woods.
``When he plays
at his best, I don't think there is anybody that can challenge him
when he is in top form,'' said Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland.
``But he's not always in top form.''
Woods was last
year until the first round at Augusta, when a 7-iron into the bunker
on No. 10 led to a double bogey and a mysterious blast of wind through
the pines at Amen Corner knocked his tee shot into Rae's Creek on
No. 12 for a triple bogey.
``The only
time I replay it is when people asked me,'' Woods said curtly when
those two holes were brought to his attention.
Woods often
talks about complementing his awesome skills with a little luck,
and that always seems to be a winning recipe at Augusta.
In 1987, Larry
Mize hit a 140-foot chip at No. 11 in a playoff against Norman that
might have rolled through the green toward the water except that
it went in the hole for an unlikely victory.
Five years
later, Fred Couples' tee shot on No. 12 somehow stuck to the bank
like Velcro instead of trickling down into Rae's Creek.
``There's a
lot of tricky things that happen out there,'' Love said. ``You can
get some funny bounces and you hit good shots that suck back off
of a green. You have to be patient.''
Woods can attest
to that.
Four years
ago, in his first round at the Masters as a professional, he had
a 40 on the front nine and was in jeopardy of an early departure.
He played the next 63 holes in 24-under par to win by a record 12
strokes, with a record score of 270.
He hasn't given
himself a good opportunity since then.
``I tried,
and it just didn't work out,'' he said. ``That's part of playing
a championship, especially majors. The key is to keep putting yourself
there. If I can keep putting myself there, I'll win my share.''
This one is
all that matters.
Bobby Jones,
who started the Masters in 1934, won the four majors of his time
in 1930 and gave true meaning to the term ``Grand Slam.'' Ben Hogan
won three straight majors in 1953, but lost in a playoff in the
1954 Masters when going for his fourth in a row.
When asked
if this might be his only chance at history, Woods smiled.
``I have my
whole career in front of me,'' he said.
|
