AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > April > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USThe misadventures of Tiger and Phil
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Augusta — One guy hits it into Rae’s Creek. The other fires it into the woods, bounces his second shot into some other trees, then morphs into DeSoto, looking under leaves and cable for his ball (and his game).
One guy hits it into a tributary, thereby leaving him a lake or an ocean short of the aqua hat trick. The other guy figured he would be fine with a 68 Friday. He was fortunate to close at 73, given he was 3-over through six holes.
Welcome to Masters Lite.
Through two rounds, the leaderboard is devoid of a Tiger or a Phil. It barely has a Vijay, who is struggling just to be the best Singh. (Vijay’s at par; Jeev is 3-over.)
Billy Payne said at a dinner the other night that the players make the Masters. Right now, the players are making the Masters the Greater Milwaukee Open.
Only three players are under par. Everybody else is merely sub par.
We thought this would be the Tiger and Phil show. We just never figured there would be slapstick involved. They have combined for 19 bogeys, one double bogey and several created heart palpitations at CBS.
Both scrambled to avoid second-day disasters. Woods hit water on 12 and 13, nearly threw out his back on 13 when he stopped a tee shot because of low-flying birds, then managed to grind his way back a couple of shots.
“I turned a 90 into a 74,” he said. “[Thursday] I threw away a good round and [Friday] I salvaged a bad one.”
Mickelson, the defending Masters champion, has not built much confidence among his fans since the tent-trees-bunker collapse on 18 in last year’s U.S. Open. He appeared in danger of missing the cut Friday, when he was 3-over through six holes and 7-over for the tournament. As it was, he settled at 5-over 149, his second-worst two-round score ever here.
The course isn’t just winning.
The course is humiliating.
Tiger and Phil? Generally acknowledged as the world’s two best golfers, they have combined to hit only 40 of 72 greens (56 percent) and 24 of 56 fairways (43 percent).
Woods has won four of these. It was at Augusta National 10 years ago that he shot 40 on the front nine, then changed the face of golf by shooting 22-under for the rest of the tournament. He won again in ‘01, ‘02 and ‘05. Now, conditions have led Woods to almost cower.
He dropped a 30-foot putt to “save” bogey on 12, after his tee shot was short of the green and rolled back down the embankment into Rae’s Creek.
“I’m just thinking, ‘Let’s just not do any more damage than what we’ve already done,’ ” he said.
Somehow, Woods saved par on the par-5 13 when his second shot bounced into tributary short of the green, leading to another drop.
“The whole idea is you never make a double at this place,” he said. “If you don’t make doubles and you don’t make three-putts here, usually you’re in contention to win the tournament.”
If the concrete greens and wind gusts weren’t enough, even other life forms seemed to be against Woods. On 13, he abruptly stopped his tee shot on the backswing when a flock of birds flew over his head. They weren’t dive bombers, and, fortunately, did not feel the need to leave a souvenir on Woods’ shoulder. But Woods wasn’t thrilled with the sudden stop.
“I broke my back, my wrist, my neck, legs, hip,” he joked. “I don’t how those baseball players do it with a check swing. But I tried to check it and did somehow, and I felt like the shaft was going to snap.”
Somebody took the amen out of Amen Corner. On 11, Mickelson’s tee shot went into the woods. His second rattled around trees and fell under leaves and near a TV cable, allowing him a free drop. He was happy to get bogey.
After the tee shot, he said, “I thought I might have to pack my bags and go home.”
No, Mickelson and Woods are still here. It’s just not their show.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Golf, Jeff Schultz
Comments
By Alternative universe JSki
April 7, 2007 11:12 PM | Link to this
Ha ha, Jeff you’re a MORON!!! You censor comments because you can’t handle the truth… I will haunt YOU till your last day at the AJC… So why don’t you quit now? You NO TALENT HACK!!!
Oh who is in the final pairing on Sunday? You don’t know morals, you don’t know ethics, you don’t know basketball, football, baseball, hockey, or golf? DAMN, what do you know? Prince of the comb-overs that’s what you are!!!