In his first appearance at Augusta since 2015, the four-times champion showed enough grit to get round in 73 despite struggling with his tee-shotsIt was a chilly morning in Augusta, or what passes for it in these parts. The kind of day when you can spot the tourists because they are the only people wearing shorts. Tiger Woods played like he felt it. He was stiff and creaky in his first competitive round here since 2015. By the time he made the turn, the sun was out and weather hot, but he still had not warmed up. Anything but. His game froze up around Amen Corner, where he hit more patrons than he made pars. At least it meant the...
This week’s roundup also features more NCAA drama, the evergreen Ichiro Suzuki and Football Italia nostalgia1) The Masters starts on Thursday, so let’s dip into the archive. Bob Goalby seizes the moment after a scorecard error by Roberto De Vicenzo’s partner meant the Argentinian signed for a 67 rather than the 66 he had gone round in. Tiger Woods’s return to form and prominence gives us an excuse, if one was needed, to relive that famous 16th-hole chip in 2005. And has a pressure moment ever been dealt with better than Sandy Lyle’s bunker shot at the last in 1988, which set him up for a remarkable victory? Two years earlier, Jack Nicklaus was on the charge, sealing victory with...
The four-times winner is in his best form for years after back surgery but there are plenty of other Americans with a chanceThe Masters has never been a more international affair than in recent years. When the season’s first major championship tees off on Thursday morning amid the flowering dogwoods and blooming azaleas at Augusta National Golf Club it will mark the 12th straight year the Americans in the field will be outnumbered by players from outside the country – with six of the last 10 winners hailing from foreign soil.A global contingent including Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jason Day and the defending champion, Sergio García, are the prime contenders to keep the Green Jacket off a homegrown player’s back...
The 14-times major winner’s second place at the Valspar Championship has generated excitement but talk of him conquering Augusta again may be prematureBookmakers are apparently revelling in these fevered times for golf. By Monday afternoon, the only absent bulletin was the price for Tiger Woods to walk unassisted on Rae’s Creek when taking to the 12th green during his first round at the Masters. That may be in the post.Woods’s surpassing of expectations has been timely. With the first major of the year, the Masters, only three weeks away, the 42-year-old finds himself listed among the second favourites to prevail. Woods can be backed at shorter odds than Sergio García, the defending champion, Justin Rose, a modern day Augusta specialist,...
Spaniard previously cast as a sore loser finally won a major after he made peace with defeat – and his victory shed light on the inherent futility of gamesmanshipIt’s one of the quirks of the English language that, if you didn’t know any better, you could imagine that the words sportsmanship and gamesmanship were synonyms. But, of course, they mean almost the complete opposite. Gamesmanship is the art of winning by underhand or devious means. It places victory above any code of gracious behaviour.Whereas sportsmanship entails an attitude that transcends winning and losing and instead places an emphasis on mutual respect and appreciation. In the pursuit of glory it refuses to compromise with the principles of fair play and a...