Tiger
Woods centre of Masters attention
A scattered
flock of fans suddenly turned into a wall that moved in unison along
the first fairway, some scrambling for a good vantage point while
others pressed against the ropes for a chance to see Tiger Woods.
He is no ordinary
player. This is no ordinary Masters.
"Every year,
history is made here,'' Phil Mickelson said today. "Something occurs
that we remember forever.''
That's what
everyone has come to see.
That's what
Mickelson, Davis Love III, defending champion Vijay Singh and so
many others are here to stop.
"I think it's
going to be very difficult to beat Tiger, because he seems to be
able to bring out his best game when he wants to,'' Mickelson said.
"He has certainly done it at four of the last five majors.''
The last three
are what matter now.
Coming off
a spectacular season in which he won the U.S. Open, British Open,
and PGA Championship with a record performance, Woods arrived at
Augusta National with a chance to become the first player to hold
all four major championships at the same time.
Only one other
player has been in position to win four straight professional majors.
Ben Hogan won The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open -- which
overlapped the PGA in 1953 -- before losing to Sam Snead in an 18-hole
playoff in the 1954 Masters.
The comparison
Woods heard otoday, however, was to Bobby Jones, who won the four
majors of his time in 1930 when he captured the British Open, British
Amateur, U.S. Open, and U.S. Amateur.
It was dubbed
the "Impregnable Quadrilateral,'' which later became the Grand Slam.
Will it count
the same for Woods spread over two years?
"Whether it
is or it isn't, it's not something I'm really concerned about,''
Woods said.
Last summer
in St. Andrews, he needed to win the Open to complete the career
Grand Slam. Woods never looked at it that way, focusing instead
on winning the Open and letting the Grand Slam take care of itself.
"That's my
mindset this week,'' he said. "I'm going to go out there just like
I do every week and hopefully compete and win the championship.
And if I do, then let people say what it is.''
Arnold Palmer,
who dreamed up the professional Grand Slam in 1960, says it isn't.
Same with Jack Nicklaus, Singh and Mickelson. Others, like Colin
Montgomerie, say having all four trophies on the mantle is proof
enough.
All agree on
the magnitude of the accomplishment.
"Call it what
you will, but it's impressive play,'' Mickelson said.
That's what
it is required of Woods this week. A heavy rain pelted Augusta National
today and suspended practice rounds for two hours. The greens are
likely to be a little softer for the first two days, but no less
perilous.
The slopes
and contours are like no other set of greens in championship golf.
Stuart Appleby had a putt from the back left of the second green
to a pin that was cut at the front right portion. He hit it about
8 feet by, then asked a local caddie for advice.
"The line I
had and the line he picked were 20 feet different,'' the Aussie
said. "He pointed me ... to nowhere possible where I would think
I could hit it.''
It stopped
2 feet from the hole.
In Woods's
favor is the history he already has made at Augusta. He set 20 tournament
records when he won in 1997 by 12 strokes with a record 270, becoming
the youngest Masters champion at 21.
"The experience
is just invaluable,'' and knowing you've done it before, it's just
something great to rely on,'' Woods said. "It makes you feel a little
more at ease.''
Woods hasn't
done it since, and hasn't come particularly close, prompting one
reporter to stop just short of asking whether Woods was in some
kind of a Masters slump.
Woods put that
other "slump'' to rest by winning his last two tournaments, surging
past Mickelson with a birdie on the 72nd hole to win at Bay Hill,
then winning The Players Championship over Singh.
It took him
six tournaments to get on track this year, the longest he had ever
gone at the start of a season, and Woods attributed that to his
hectic pace at the end of his record-setting season last year.
He played eight
straight weeks and traveled 27,000 miles through every time zone
in the globe, teeing it up on four continents.
"That put a
toll on my body,'' he said. "I didn't take enough of a break. I
came out and I wasn't as energetic as I should have been.''
There's no
question about his energy level now. Woods has been preparing for
this tournament, this moment, since the year began, planning shots
and strategy, honing his swing to get the right trajectory and the
proper amount of spin.
The quest begins
at 12:57 p.m. Thursday, in a threesome with Mike Weir of Canada
and British Amateur champion Mikko Ilonen of Finland, followed by
thousands of anxious fans and surrounded by the names of Jones and
Hogan.
"What Bobby
Jones did in 1930 was just absolutely incredible, and what Hogan
did in 1953 was incredible,'' Woods said. "Whether I do it or not,
just to have people start saying those things and compare it, that
means I've done all right for myself.''
This week,
he has a chance to do even better.
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