In the wake of the news.

Challenge is finding Woods a challenger

April 15, 2002|By Rick Morrissey.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Let's be clear. This wasn't a tour de force by Tiger Woods, nor was it a meltdown by the rest of the field.

This was a turning of the cheek, a conscientious objection and a general reluctance to make eye contact by a group of golfers unwilling to stand up to pressure, Woods or a snarling Augusta National.

Tiger was there for the taking Sunday, and the field at the Masters took off, stocked up on foodstuffs and waited in a sand bunker for the inevitable.

The legend-makers will turn this into another Tiger tale, a story of daring and magnificence among the azaleas. This wasn't that. This was a hard day of work at the factory, a shirt-wringing grind. Woods made tough par putts when he had to on the way to a 1-under 71 and a three-stroke victory while the rest of the field looked dazed by it all. That's as exotic as it got Sunday.

The Tiger factory produces majors. It's three Masters titles now and counting. Only Jack Nicklaus (six) and Arnold Palmer (four) have more. It's seven majors now and counting for a 26-year-old who makes his elders nervous.

How does a Grand Slam this year sound? You say that Woods hadn't been playing particularly well until the Masters. I say it doesn't matter how he's playing going into any major. Until the rest of the world's golfers produce X-rays that show evidence of a backbone, every major until 2020 is Woods' to lose.

"[The perception is] everybody laid down," he said of the final round. "That's not how it was out there."

He's being nice.

Retief Goosen, who started the day tied with Woods at 11 under, offered himself up for sacrifice with a bogey on the first hole. He shot 74 and finished second. Vijay Singh, who came into the day two strokes behind Woods, played unspectacularly, then took a 9 on the par-5 15th and said his goodbyes. Phil Mickelson birdied the first two holes, bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4 and spent the rest of the day quietly running in place. He has finished third three times at the Masters.

"Give him a couple more years and I think Tiger will be even greater than Jack Nicklaus," Goosen said. "It's just a matter of time."

You'll get no argument here on that point. But let's try to get this straight, fellas. You can't beat Tiger Woods in a major by hoping he comes crawling back to the field. It takes a fighter pilot's daring and a sculptor's precision to catch him. It takes doggedness amid the dogwoods, not surrender.

"The thing about Tiger is that he's the only leader [who doesn't offer] hope that he'll falter," Mickelson said. "When other guys are up there, you know that if you can just stay around there, there's a good chance they might come back two or three shots."

Even the gallery knew it. When Singh bogeyed No. 11 to drop to four strokes behind Woods, the crowd groaned in frustration: Don't just stand there, do something.

Woods came up in the next twosome and proceeded to bogey the hole himself. Opportunity lost.

This was one of the best final-round leaderboards in years here, and it turned into the worst theater, outside of Woods' 12-stroke victory in 1997. Tiger wasn't that much better than everyone else Sunday. Everyone else was that much worse.

Ernie Els was within three strokes of the lead when he stood on the 13th tee. When he walked off the 13th green he was six behind after hitting twice into the water and taking a crazy 8.

After two days of rain Augusta National sparkled Sunday, and the heat of the day dried out the course a bit. It was a course with teeth now. It also was a course with bad breath. The mixture of rain, heat and rotting grass made the layout smell like a barnyard. So add bad odors to the list of conditions that don't bother Tiger Woods. Neither rain nor stench nor Retief Goosen ...

Sunday's conditions called for a total game to tame the course. Woods brought his. Everyone else kept looking at their watches and checking for their car keys.

They talk a good game. Sergio Garcia does. So does Mickelson. They talk as if they aren't afraid of Woods. But within three holes Sunday he had a three-stroke lead. Boo!

Only Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and now Woods have successfully defended their Masters titles. Tiger marches on, alone and untouchable.

Can't someone make it a little harder on the guy?