Tiger preps for 15th Masters focused on victory

Augusta — Reality alert: this is Tiger Woods’ 15th Masters.

“Yeah,” he said. “Isn’t that amazing?”

Well, Gene Sarazen was 51 when he played his 15th.

“I’m not teeing off on the first tee yet to start this thing.”

There ends the reflection. No one’s honorary starter at 33, Woods was nevertheless given pause Tuesday while considering his first major championship in 10 months. Naturally, he is again center stage.

He has yet to test his repaired left knee for a full week on a course as hilly as Augusta National, has yet to face down such a world-class field, and has yet to measure himself against his own reputation since his stirring U.S. Open championship last June.

But ask him if he expects to win this week.

“Always.”

That’s it?

“Sorry.”

Woods has hardly seen the grounds this week. He played six holes late Monday, stayed off the course on windy Tuesday — “I’m not going to learn a lot” — and hopes to play nine this morning.

Part of his rationale is his belief that the Masters, given his familiarity with the course, is his easiest major to prepare for. But a major component of his preparation came two weeks ago at Bay Hill, when he performed on command late on Sunday and made the 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole to win. That did as much for his game as playing a few more practice holes this week.

“This past week at Bay Hill was great,” he said, “to feel that and just see how my body would react again. It’s been a while and (there was) a lot of uncertainty over the months of rehab. And it felt great to hit shots.”

In was in late last December, around his birthday, that Golf Channel aired its replay of his first Masters championship, the 1997 opus with the record-low 270, with the record 12-shot margin of victory, at the record young age of 21. It made him consider those good old days, when the course played a full 520 yards shorter than its current 7,445.

“When I first played here, good drives would leave you short irons,” Woods said. “You could hit tee shots that were pretty far off-line, but you did it on purpose. I remember Raymond (Floyd) telling me to hit the ball as far right as you possibly can at No. 9, so you can fire right at the green. Now you have to hug the trees (on the left) because there’s a stand of trees down the right side.

“The golf course has changed quite a bit. You know, your strategy has changed. You don’t go out there looking to shoot super-low rounds anymore, especially with these (windy) conditions that we’ve had the last two years.”

In 2005, when Woods won his fourth green jacket, he opened the weekend with a two-over 74 and then played his next two rounds at 13-under. In his subsequent 13 rounds through last year, he has scored in the 60’s here once.

“The past couple of years, my putting has been streaky here,” Woods said. “I get on rolls where I’d make everything and I get on rolls where I didn’t make anything. Consequently, I didn’t win the tournament. You have to be very consistent around this golf course. …

“Given that, you’ve got to obviously be very patient and hit the ball well but make the putts when you have the opportunities, because they are not going to come as frequent as they used to.”

Streaky or not, a consensus on Woods’ putting ability in the clutch is not hard to find out here. Australian Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, votes him the finest pressure putter of all time.

“I say that because I’ve spent the last 10 years watching him make clutch putts, whether I was there or on TV,” Ogilvy said. “I didn’t get to do that with Jack (Nicklaus), or I guess Bob Jones was a fair clutch putter too.

“But I’m sure they missed some and maybe Tiger, by the time it’s all said and done, he’ll have missed one or two that he needed to make. Anyone who makes that putt on the last hole at Torrey Pines last year gets my vote.”

That would be the 12-footer on the 72nd hole that forced the 18-hole playoff, which in turn delivered Woods his 14th major. It has taken him 12 years, after knocking off the 1997 Masters.

“I would never have foreseen myself winning this many championships this soon,” he said, “but I’m not going to say it’s a bad thing either.”

Sorry.