Notes and Quotes from the Masters
Woods looking like the guy
who’s already won Masters – The Masters Tournament
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods has already won this Masters. Judging from the coy looks he was throwing, and the knowing smiles, and the confident talk of all his preparation, it was all over but the formality of the final two rounds and the pair of mortal Englishmen in front of him. It seemed as though the last four of five months of mea culpa-ing, and all the scandalous news, never cut deeper than a micromilimeter into the psyche. In other words, he seemed to be the same old Tiger Woods with the same old game. “It feels good, it feels really good,” Woods was saying. “It feels good to be back and in contention. I usually put myself in contention most of the time most years here, and this year I’m right there.”
After opening with a 68, Woods shot a 70 Friday for a 6-under 138 total, two behind England’s Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. So there’s those two to contend with. Shouldn’t be much of a problem, or were onlookers reading too much into that little smile. Then there were the guys right there with him, two back. There were K.J. Choi, inscrutable South Korean , Ricky Barnes, and Anthony Kim, to say nothing of Phil Mickelson, who single-handedly has brushed Woods off, most notably in the Tour Championship last year. And speaking of brush-offs, there’s South Korea’s Y.E. Yang, a totally obscure guy, who overran Woods in the PGA Championship last August.
Woods had a one bogey, three-birdie 70, the birdies coming at three of the four par-5s – the 2nd, 13th and 15th. He credited his exile – in a way – for his ability to come through the storm and emerge as though nothing had happened. Golf-wise, that is.
“I didn’t have the luxury of playing tournaments coming in here,” he said, “so I had to be more focused on my practice sessions, and then take more out of them than most people would.”
So, with a couple more trips around Augusta National, he would have his fifth Masters. Barring any interference by any number of people who do not necessarily share his view of the immediate future.
PHIL AND THE LUCKY 13TH -- With an eagle on Thursday and a birdie on Friday, Phil Mickelson was 54 under par at the par-5 13th in 18 Masters.
FORGOTTEN CHAMP – Trevor Immelman made a name for himself, coming from nowhere to win the 2008 Masters, and then he returned to nowhere with a wrist injury. “Well, there’s really no point for anybody to have mentioned me,” Immelman said Friday, after a 73 left him at 2-under and still in the hunt. “I hardly played golf last year, and I only played a few events this year, and that was about it. But it’s been a long, hard grind for me to rehab this wrist and get back to the point to where I feel like I can play the way I need to. I’m by no means back to where I was, but I feel like I’m edging in that direction.”
AMATEUR BAPTISM – Ben Martin, 22-year-old amateur from Greenwood, S.C., got a real baptism in his first Masters. He plopped his wedge third into the creek in front of the green at the par-5 13th, and finding it hittable in the water, took off his shoes and socks and went down after it, wondering how it was going to come out. “I asked my caddie, ‘Have you ever hit one of these before?’ ” Martin said. “And he said, ‘Nope – just hit it and hope.’ ” (Martin didn’t hope enough. He splashed the ball over the green and double-bogeyed, shooting 80-155 and missing the cut.)
PROCESS OF EDUCATION – Came the question to 2007 Masters champ Zach Johnson 74-144), how many years did you play Augusta National before you understood it? “Three,” said Johnson. “When I won it.”
Question: Is there a light that goes on?
Johnson: “Yeah. Probably on the weekend of my second year, when I made the cut. I shot 70 on Sunday and really felt like the light went on that day. Then it kind of rolled over into the next year. It’s still one of those places where you really just don’t try to make putts. You just try to lag them, and if they go in, they go in.”
PERRY FOR THE DEFENSE – Kenny Perry (71-143), co-runner-up last year, found Friday the day for commendable defensive play at Augusta National. “Those pin placements, I thought, were in some tough spots today,” Perry said. “I played percentage golf. Played to the middle of the green, was just two-putting from 20, 30 feet. Didn’t get too aggressive. And you can’t win golf tournaments that way, but you can’t lose them, either.”
POWER GOLF – Augusta’s par-5 8th stretches 570 yards uphill. Alvaro Quiros, big-hitting Spaniard, took it apart with a driver and a 6-iron and birdied. Alas. At the two incoming par-5s, 13 and 15, he made 7-6, shot 75 and missed the cut.
HARDER IS EASIER – Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen (71-141), playing in his second Masters, offered the contradictory notion that, in a way, harder is easier at Augusta National. “It’s so difficult out here that you take one shot at a time,” he said. “I suppose in a way, it’s easier to do here because every shot is so difficult that you just need 100 percent commitment… in a way, it’s easier just to take one shot at a time because you simply can’t think of anything else.”
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?
Defending champion Angel Cabrera birdied the 18th for a 74 and made the cut right on the number, 3-over 147. On the other hand:
Japanese whiz kid Ryo Ishikawa bogeyed the 18th, shot 76-148 and missed by a shot. Also missing the cut: Padraig Harrington 74-75 – 149; Luke Donald 74-75 – 149; Northern Ireland whiz kid Rory McIlroy 74-77 – 151; Paul Casey 75-78 – 153; Vijay Singh 76-78 – 154; Jim Furyk, 80-76 – 156.
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