Tiger wood’s is going to take time off
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods came back from his five-month break to play the Masters, but now he may be gone again.
Woods shot an adventure-filled final-round 69 Sunday to finish 11-under and tied for fourth with K.J. Choi, five shots back of winner Phil Mickelson.
When asked if he had any idea of when he would compete again, Woods was quick with the answer.
“No,” he said. “I’m going to take a little time off and kind of re-evaluate things.”
It is doubtful he will want to spend too much timing thinking about Sunday’s final round.
Beginning the day four shots out of the lead, he quickly added to his comeback burden with bogeys on the first, fourth and fifth holes.
He still played the front nine 1-under, holing a wedge from the fairway to eagle the par-4 seventh, and making birdie on Nos. 8 and 9.
The back nine, however, was almost as inconsistent, with two birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
Elliott: Lefty Does It His Way
Mariotti: The Ending We Needed
Whitley: Tiger’s Week Thankfully Over
Travis: Bad Tiger Good for Golf, CBS
More: Leaderboard | Photo Gallery
It was Woods’ first competition in five months, but he took no consolation in the finish.
“I entered this event and I only enter events to win and I didn’t get it done,” he said. “I didn’t hit the ball good enough and I made too many mistakes around the green, consequently I’m not there.”
That’s Just Not Fair
Mickelson would have been excused if he decided early that Sunday was not going to be his day.
On the par-5 second hole, Mickelson was drawing his putter back for a six-foot birdie attempt, when a pod of tree pollen drifted down from the sky and landed in the middle of his line.
The ball struck the clump, took a slight hop and veered left of the hole.
As things turned out, it did not matter.
Mickelson won his third green jacket, joining a select group that includes Sam Snead, Jim Demaret, Gary Player and Nick Faldo. Only Jack Nicklaus (six), Arnold Palmer (four) and Woods (four) have more.
Couples Close, But Not Happy
Fifty-year-old Fred Couples, the sentimental favorite going into Sunday’s final round, finally ran out of gas coming down the stretch.
He led after the first day, and after beginning Sunday five shots out of the lead, the Champions Tour rookie was within two shots after playing the front nine 3-under. But there would be no magic ending.
He had three birdies on the back side, but also suffered two bogeys and a double.
Still, he finished 9-under, and in sixth place, seven shots back of Mickelson.
Couples was ultimately undone by the par-3 12th, after seeing his tee shot hit, spin back and trickle into water fronting the green.
Ironically, it was almost the same shot Couples hit in 1992 when he won The Masters, only that year the ball hung up on the slight rough and stopped before reaching the water. That year he chipped up and made par. This time, he made double bogey.
“I was battling on the back nine to try to make birdies,” he said. “I’m not the kind of person looking for the meaning of it. The best meaning here is when I won in ’92 and I continue to get to play here because of it.
“I have a game that’s suited to this course and what it means right now is I’m really disappointed in a few shots. But at the same time, I’m glad to finish it out. So that’s pretty good for me.”
Hanging Tough
Lee Westwood didn’t win, but his rise to the top of golf’s list of best players is impressive because he has done it twice.
Westwood turned professional at 20 and won his first European Tour event in 1996 at age 23. He quickly became a prolific winner and after winning seven times in 2000 rose to No. 4 in the world rankings.
But as quickly as his game rose, it fell. He dropped to 29th in the ranking by 2001 and was 181st at the end of 2002.
But he rebuilt his game and has again climbed to No. 4 in the world; last year, he was named European Tour player of the year.
“I think when you go through a slump — the first time I played well, it was easy to take it for granted because I was young and I had not really experienced any poor play,” Westwood said.
“Now, I’ve experienced both ends of he spectrum, and you learn to appreciate things more as you get older and the more good times and bad times you’ve been through.”
Change of Fortune
Australian Nathan Green‘s first Masters had gone nothing like he had hoped.
After rounds of 72 and 75 to make the cut, he shot a third-round 80 and was playing the first group off Sunday morning. Then he began bogey, bogey, double-bogey.
“If you’re playing bad it’s not that much fun,” he said.
But things would improve. He bounced back with three straight birdies beginning at No. 6.
And it got better.
Green had a tap-in eagle on the par-5 13th after his second shot almost tricked into the hole, and then he aced the par-3 16th.
“I don’t know, it’s just a disappointing last two days in some respects,” Green said. “But just sort of a good way to finish, I suppose.”
Italian Ice Man
Matteo Manassero, the 16-year-old from Italy, completed his first Masters with a well-played 72 to finish the week 4-over.
It made Manassero the tournament’s low amateur, but that was no surprise. On Friday he was the first amateur to make the 36-hole cut since Sergio Garcia did it in 1999.
“Today I think I played really good,” he said. “Can’t play much better than this.”
Manassero, the youngest player in Masters history, earned an invitation to Augusta National by winning the British Amateur. But he will consider the crystal trophy for being The Masters’ low amateur a special milestone.
“Definitely will help me in all areas, to play with these guys, be comfortable with this crowd, and to understand that I can compete with these guys. It’s very important,” he said.
And what will he do with the trophy?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I will put it in my room.”
