Tiger Woods Masters - The crowd, 15 and 20 deep around the No. 1 tee, had serenaded Tiger Woods with cries of "Welcome back, Tiger!" and been rewarded with smiles and a wave and actual acknowledgment. In the distance, directly over Woods's ball as it soared down the first fairway, a light plane towed a banner that read: "TIGER: DID YOU MEAN BOOTYISM?" Which falls under the category of fair comment, probably, but dirty pool.
Tiger Woods Later, defying the widely held belief that at its next appearance it would be shot down by Augusta National's anti-aircraft guns, the plane was back with a new banner.
"SEX ADDICT? YEAH, RIGHT. SURE, ME TOO."
And, as Lloyd Robertson would say, that was the kind of day it was.
Support, from men and women alike, but not absolute. Applause from some; others who sat on their hands as he walked to greens, even up the 18th.
Between the ropes, nary a discouraging word was heard, give or take one muttered cuss -at least, it sounded like one -by Woods when his approach to the 14th green took off left into the gallery.
The, er, patrons were generous, but reserved -their reservation leaving them only when he made the great shots. There were plenty of those, including two eagles by a man who's never had two in the same round at Augusta before.
"The reception was incredible all day, from the putting green to the range to the first tee and all day -it was incredible," said Woods, whose manners were near-impeccable, and so was his golf game. Considering that in 15 previous Masters appearances, he had never broken 70 in the opening round, Thursday's 68, with some missed chances along the way to make it better than that, was nothing short of amazing.
Five months off? You could not have guessed. Sex scandal? Really? How could you tell?
"It's what Hogan did after his accident. You don't have to play a lot of events, if you take your practice seriously," said Woods.
He was assuredly outplayed, this day, by 50-year-old Fred Couples, who posted his own best-ever score at Augusta, a 66, to take the solo lead by a shot over 60-year-old Tom Watson, Koreans K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang, two-time champ Phil Mickelson and Englishman Lee Westwood.
But overshadowed? No. That wasn't going to happen.
"It felt really good to get into the rhythm of the round, and just go about my business," Woods said.
"It felt like normal. Nothing different. I felt like I'd shoot under par today. After looking at all the [earlier] scores, guys were just tearing this place up -most of the tees were up and if you drove the ball well, you could be pretty aggressive."
Indeed, there was nothing out of place, nothing out of the ordinary, except that Woods's idea of ordinary is not quite like anyone else's.
Woods played steadily from the start, making two pars before birdieing the third, bogeying the seventh but coming right back with an eagle at the par-five 8th -and then pulling a bit of the old magic out of his arsenal at the 9th.
He drove into the left tree line but hit a beautiful, sweeping hook on his approach shot and made a 15-footer for birdie to make the turn in three-under-par 33. He bogeyed the 10th, where he had got a great bounce out of the trees -must be all that clean living -but had a 15-foot eagle putt at the 13th just miss, and at three-under with the par-five 15th and par-three 16th still to come, looked about ready to do all his talking for the day with his golf clubs.
The bogey at 14 didn't slow him down much, because he launched a long, pure drive at the 15th then hit a towering iron shot to 10 feet above the hole and feathered in a lightning-quick downhiller for his second eagle of the day. But he missed a 15-foot birdie try at the 16th, needed two putts after a mediocre approach at the 17th and missed a pretty easy five-foot birdie attempt at the last.
"I was just trying to plot my way along and not throw away shots," Woods said. "It wasn't a day I could slash it all over the place. I didn't putt very good today, or it could have been a pretty special round."
For Couples, it was.
He always has had a rare feel for this golf course and can play it well even when nothing else seems to be happening with his game. But three wins on the Champions Tour this year have whetted his appetite for winning again, and he showed why he was a sleeper candidate to win this week, even at 50.
"How about that?" said Woods. "I played with Freddie on Monday, and he played just like that. I said if it had been a tournament round, he'd have been in the top 5. Wins just give you a lot of confidence, whatever Tour it is."
Couples missed a short putt at 18, as well, or could have been another shot clear of the field.
"I was really hoping to make that last one to go 7-under, but I hit the putt a little soft," he said. "But it was a fun day. It was just one of those things. I putted well, and that's what I've been doing on the Champions Tour. Once I got going, I just kept making putts and ended up six-under."
Tiger Woods Later, defying the widely held belief that at its next appearance it would be shot down by Augusta National's anti-aircraft guns, the plane was back with a new banner.
"SEX ADDICT? YEAH, RIGHT. SURE, ME TOO."
And, as Lloyd Robertson would say, that was the kind of day it was.
Support, from men and women alike, but not absolute. Applause from some; others who sat on their hands as he walked to greens, even up the 18th.
Between the ropes, nary a discouraging word was heard, give or take one muttered cuss -at least, it sounded like one -by Woods when his approach to the 14th green took off left into the gallery.
The, er, patrons were generous, but reserved -their reservation leaving them only when he made the great shots. There were plenty of those, including two eagles by a man who's never had two in the same round at Augusta before.
"The reception was incredible all day, from the putting green to the range to the first tee and all day -it was incredible," said Woods, whose manners were near-impeccable, and so was his golf game. Considering that in 15 previous Masters appearances, he had never broken 70 in the opening round, Thursday's 68, with some missed chances along the way to make it better than that, was nothing short of amazing.
Five months off? You could not have guessed. Sex scandal? Really? How could you tell?
"It's what Hogan did after his accident. You don't have to play a lot of events, if you take your practice seriously," said Woods.
He was assuredly outplayed, this day, by 50-year-old Fred Couples, who posted his own best-ever score at Augusta, a 66, to take the solo lead by a shot over 60-year-old Tom Watson, Koreans K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang, two-time champ Phil Mickelson and Englishman Lee Westwood.
But overshadowed? No. That wasn't going to happen.
"It felt really good to get into the rhythm of the round, and just go about my business," Woods said.
"It felt like normal. Nothing different. I felt like I'd shoot under par today. After looking at all the [earlier] scores, guys were just tearing this place up -most of the tees were up and if you drove the ball well, you could be pretty aggressive."
Indeed, there was nothing out of place, nothing out of the ordinary, except that Woods's idea of ordinary is not quite like anyone else's.
Woods played steadily from the start, making two pars before birdieing the third, bogeying the seventh but coming right back with an eagle at the par-five 8th -and then pulling a bit of the old magic out of his arsenal at the 9th.
He drove into the left tree line but hit a beautiful, sweeping hook on his approach shot and made a 15-footer for birdie to make the turn in three-under-par 33. He bogeyed the 10th, where he had got a great bounce out of the trees -must be all that clean living -but had a 15-foot eagle putt at the 13th just miss, and at three-under with the par-five 15th and par-three 16th still to come, looked about ready to do all his talking for the day with his golf clubs.
The bogey at 14 didn't slow him down much, because he launched a long, pure drive at the 15th then hit a towering iron shot to 10 feet above the hole and feathered in a lightning-quick downhiller for his second eagle of the day. But he missed a 15-foot birdie try at the 16th, needed two putts after a mediocre approach at the 17th and missed a pretty easy five-foot birdie attempt at the last.
"I was just trying to plot my way along and not throw away shots," Woods said. "It wasn't a day I could slash it all over the place. I didn't putt very good today, or it could have been a pretty special round."
For Couples, it was.
He always has had a rare feel for this golf course and can play it well even when nothing else seems to be happening with his game. But three wins on the Champions Tour this year have whetted his appetite for winning again, and he showed why he was a sleeper candidate to win this week, even at 50.
"How about that?" said Woods. "I played with Freddie on Monday, and he played just like that. I said if it had been a tournament round, he'd have been in the top 5. Wins just give you a lot of confidence, whatever Tour it is."
Couples missed a short putt at 18, as well, or could have been another shot clear of the field.
"I was really hoping to make that last one to go 7-under, but I hit the putt a little soft," he said. "But it was a fun day. It was just one of those things. I putted well, and that's what I've been doing on the Champions Tour. Once I got going, I just kept making putts and ended up six-under."
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