Frustrated Tiger no Masters favourite
It’s hard to consider, is it not? He should, after all, still be in his prime and he’s not that many years removed from that day when he stood between Jack Nicklaus (six green jackets) and Arnold Palmer (four) and heard incomparable praise come his way.
“He might win that many green jackets combined,” it was said that day. By The King? By the Golden Bear? It’s so hard to remember, for this was when Woods was a heralded amateur who would turn out to be better than advertised. He won in a landslide when he first played the Masters as a pro, 1997, and by the time he had played in six of them, three green jackets hung in his closet.
There was no beating back the hype, especially when Woods took such dominance over to the other majors, piling up three US Opens, three Open Championships and four PGA Championships – a whopping total of 14 that is second to only Jack Nicklaus’ 18.
Just 32 years of age when he won number 14 – the 2008 US Open – it seemed to be an afterthought that Woods would not only match the record, but squash it. Ah, but the roars at this year’s Masters were for the darling of Augusta National, Phil Mickelson, and for an unheralded Swede, Peter Hanson. They were for a soft-spoken South African, Louis Oosthuizen, and the outrageous Bubba Watson. They were for smiling Matt Kuchar, the overdue Lee Westwood, the personable Pádraig Harrington, and others of assorted attributes, be it Henrik Stenson or Hunter Mahan or Paul Lawrie.
They weren’t for Woods, partly because his play didn’t warrant them, more so because his actions silenced them.
Late on a warm Friday, Woods disappeared into that most private corner of Augusta National, the tee at the par five 13th, and came out as a petulant, spoiled little brat. The foul language following a pulled drive was one thing, the anger at his hazard-bound second shot was still another, and the club-tossing and club-kicking behaviour when he misplayed his tee shot at the par three 16th was more than any of us should have been subjected to.
What was as hollow as a steel shaft were the words that took 24 hours for delivery.
“I’m frustrated at times and I apologise if I offended anybody by that,” Woods said. “But I’ve hit some bad shots and it’s certainly frustrating at times not hitting the ball where you need to hit it.”
Feel free to view such a weak effort in any manner – but it’s unlikely that “heartfelt” or “contrite” would be considered. More than likely, the translation to his words could be taken as this: “I’m used to always having things go my way on the golf course, so when they don’t, I’m free to act poorly.”
If bad shots gave every player permission to act that way, fans everywhere would be fitted with helmets at entry ways. So enough with the sense of entitlement, a little more ownership would be appreciated.
Beyond his behaviour, which rarely has been held up as a blueprint for future players to follow, Woods left fans, officials and media types shaking their heads by his play. Just two weeks after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour since September of 2009, Woods looked lost in swing thoughts and confounded by a course that he seemingly once owned.
He never broke par, played the back nine in four over, and most unfathomable of all, Woods stumbled on holes that he used to manhandle as if he were Popeye after spinach. Entering this year’s Masters, Woods in 66 rounds at Augusta National had registered 10 eagles and 137 birdies. This year he made just one eagle and finished a whimpering one over on the second and seventh.
Lodged in a share of 41st when he finished, it was his worst-ever Masters in 16 pro tries – previously he had never been lower than T-22 – and while he heads home to figure out what went wrong with the golf, perhaps we need to reassess this annual ritual we seem to have of making Woods the favourite come April.
After all, Woods has gone winless here since 2005 and there’s been just one green jacket in the last 10 Aprils.
Maybe we need to listen to what he seems to be trying to show us.
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