Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were the two overwhelming Masters favorites going into the tournament on Thursday. They were favored for different reasons ? Mickelson because he is reigning champion and current Wizard of Southern Oz, and Woods because of his living legacy as the most accomplished golfer of our time.
On Thursday in the first round of the Masters, both players completed almost the exact same round. Mickelson was one better than Woods ? 70 compared to 71 ? but the tone of the round was even closer than the final tally. Each player struggled getting off of the tee, but made enough shots and strung together a few timely putts to end the day on the happy side of par.
The result left the men who have jointly owned the last decade at the Masters with a sizable gap between them and joint leaders Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros. With the young Europeans tied for the lead on 7-under, Woods was asked about his opening round Thursday and compared to the first round 70 from a distant-seeming 14 years ago when he first won the green jacket.
?I would rather be where Rory?s at. But, hey, it?s a long way to go,? Woods shrugged.
Mickelson does not take solace in the hole he created for himself today.
?I didn?t shoot myself out of it but I didn?t make up ground on the field the way I wanted to, so I?ve got to go do it tomorrow,? he said.
Woods? Well, he seems perfectly comfortable with his position.
?I?m very pleased. I?m right there in the ball game, I?m only six back and as I said, we got a lot of golf ahead of us.?
Tiger played a round oddly consistent with his season to date. He hit two-thirds of fairways in regulation after grabbing just about 43% of fairways off of the tee. And it took him 30 strokes with the putter to get into the house.
So far in 2010, Woods has hit 47.6% of fairways, a couple percent more greens in regulation than Thursday, and required a little over 29 putts per round. That statline has yielded one backdoor top-10 this year and a string of finishes which more rival a successful Nationwide Tour graduate than a 14-time major champion.
Still, Woods has never been one to start a coup of Augusta National on day one.
Just once has he broken 70 in the opening round of a Masters tournament ? last year. We all know how the circumstances around that. But that?s not to imply anything about his personal life. No, it?s to insinuate that the scoring conditions of the first round at Augusta this year were very similar to those of last year.
Red numbers were plentiful last year on Thursday and this time, too. The lead after day one this year is one shot lower than 2010, but the bounty of names and storylines on the leaderboard were similar. The spin was more nostalgic thanks to the likes of Fred Couples and Tom Watson, but also, too, because of Woods? opening 68.
Where Woods was on the tip of the tongue of each patron after 18 holes last year, he is on the periphery in 2011. It?s not quite where he wants to be, but he can remain a factor with a good round tomorrow. And that means he cannot have a shadow of doubt about the changes he has implemented with Sean Foley.
?You have to trust. We?re in a major championship and it?s time to go. Full systems go,? Woods said.
For all of the talk of resurrecting the 2006 strategy of two drivers, Phil Mickelson went with just one in the end. He trusted what worked last week in Houston.
?I thought I was going to need 3-iron on hole 4 and possibly 15 because the wind was in. I also was driving it really well last week and didn?t want to overthink it or mess with it,? Mickelson said.
Arguably, Mickelson needed the reserve of trust in his game more than Woods did on Thursday. While Mickelson hit the same number of greens in regulation as Woods did (12), but hit just 4 of 14 fairways. Time and again, Mickelson had to escape from trouble to stay afloat.
A pair of holes encapsulated his round well. His tee shot at the par-5 13th went well left, into azalea bushes and near doom. But, Mickelson found it, chipped out and made par. At the very next hole, Mickelson again went left, with tree trouble. This time, he hit one of the best shots of the day for the field as he chased the ball up through the opening to give himself a birdie putt which he subsequently made.
That?s Mickelson ? not always beautiful, but in this case, modestly effective. Grade the round a B.
He said afterward, ?I scrambled well today to stay in, but I also let four or five good birdie opportunities slide.?
Woods felt the same way about his day, saying, ?Realistically the round probably should have been 68, 69.?
If the second round of 2010 is an apt comparison, Augusta National will have more bite and serve as a bigger test on Friday. It played a full shot harder before the weekend last year and it would stand to reason that will be true again.
Woods and Mickelson were tied after 36 holes last year in Augusta. They could be shaping up to have a date with each on Saturday.
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