Woods’ opening Masters round was ‘Tiger-esque’

By Art Spander

Tiger-esque. Justin Leonard used the word, a neologism, about a round of golf Thursday by, yes, Tiger Woods — who else?

He used it on the Golf Channel. Used it to describe the way that Woods shot a 4-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Masters. Used it to emphasize that, in this era of power, this age of Bryson DeChambeau and 400-yard tee shots, there’s still a place for accuracy and consistency.

There's still room for someone like Leonard himself, the 1997 British Open champion, who when he wasn’t splitting fairways was saving pars out of bunkers.

Day One of the 84th Masters, and there was Woods — near the end of a golfing year full of disappointment and questions — high on a leader board of nostalgia.  

Tiger was three shots behind Paul Casey — a lead that, because the round would not be completed until Friday after a 2-hour, 47-minute rain delay, was not definite. But Woods was there, definitely. And unexpectedly, perhaps.

The Masters is the old guys’ major, where experience counts. Those greens are killers, loaded with subtle breaks and drops, even when the tournament is shifted to the fall for the first time from its traditional spring dates because of the pandemic.

Jack Nicklaus won it at age 46 in 1986. Familiarity brings contentment when you no longer can bring the long ball. Check Thursday’s scores: Bernhard Langer, 70 (he’s age 63); Larry Mize, also a 70 (he’s age 62).

Tiger isn’t quite in that age group, but he will be 45 in December, and he hadn’t done much since the Tour restarted in the summer after the Covid suspension.

But he is Tiger. We’ve seen it in Nicklaus, in Gary Player, in athletes from other sports. Greatness may diminish, but it doesn’t disappear. As Woods reminded us.

He stunned us in the last Masters, winning when supposedly he had no chance. He couldn’t do it again, could he?

“In the beginning of his career, (Woods) was Nolan Ryan,” said Leonard, invoking a fellow Texan for comparison. “He could do things nobody else could do with a golf ball. Now he’s more of a Greg Maddux. He’s got to mix his pitches. He’s got to paint the corners of the plate. He’s got to fool the hitters.”

A baseball analogy. In golf, the only people Tiger has to fool are those who figure his career has reached the end.

“I saw Tiger (on Thursday) hit a lot of little knockdown shots,” said Leonard, about lower-trajectory or punch shots. “He has to do things differently. (Fellow analyst) Brandel Chamblee spoke of softer conditions bringing the medium-length hitters back into the fold. It certainly was soft, and Woods certainly is a medium-length hitter.”

Still, your score is based on how many strokes you take, not how long or short you hit the ball.

On Thursday, Woods took almost a minimum. He had nothing higher on any hole than a par, his first bogey-free round of his last 106 rounds in the majors and his first at the Masters since 2008. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 greens.

“Yeah, I did everything well,” said Woods. “I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well. The only bad shot I hit today was, I think, eight. (That’s the uphill par-5). I had a perfect number (yards) with a 60-degree sand wedge, and I hit it on the wrong shelf.”

Woods said he is upbeat any time he’s at Augusta National Golf Club, the Masters' home, and why not? He’s won the tournament five times, one fewer than Nicklaus and one more than Arnold Palmer.

“Understanding how to play this golf course is so important,” said Woods. “I’ve been saying that I’ve been lucky enough to have so many practice rounds throughout my career with so many past champions. And I was able to win the event early in my career and build myself up for understanding you’re going to come (here) every year.

“I saw Raymond (Floyd), Bernhard (Langer) and Freddie (Couples) always contend late in their careers (each was a Masters champion). Just understanding how to play this golf course was a big part of it.”

Tiger Woods, who has been a big part of the Masters, obviously understands.