Tiger Woods picks up where he left off at the Masters
Of late, the phrase "nothing surprises you about this man" has tended to be used in an overwhelmingly negative sense where Tiger Woods is concerned.
But yesterday Woods the liar, Woods the adulterer, Woods the fallen idol was forgotten, as Woods the golfer returned - and managed to surprised us all again, happily, this time.
Tiger strode down to the first tee looking composed and even cheerful, while the "patrons" (Augusta's preferred term for the fans) offered the usual applause and cheers. But there must have been doubt too, if not in Woods' mind then surely in the fans. After the innumerable shamings of the last five months, wasn't it unthinkable that the world No. 1 could just waltz back into the game and win at the highest level?
We'll have to see about the winning, but on this evidence, Woods is definitely in the hunt. Despite his awesome reputation, there were few aficionados of the game who really believed that the 34-year-old could make much of an impression at Augusta after what must have been a truly traumatic lay-off for the golfer.
But the 14-time major winner proved he should never be written off - this was actually Woods' best first-round performance in all the years he's been playing here, carding two eagles and two birdies to finish four-under 68, just two shots off Fred Couples' lead.
More impressive than the eagle putts was the shot Woods played on the 9th, trees and spectators alike blocking his approach to the green. Woods was unbowed, curving the ball round the obstruction with the casual brilliance of an in-his-prime David Beckham manoeuvring the ball around a wall of defenders. The 34-year-old's ball arrived on the green with the accuracy of a guided missile.
It wasn't all so straightforward for Woods. On the 11th, he hit a poor tee shot into the trees, but even when his talent let him down, good fortune didn't desert him, the ball bouncing out of the shrubbery and into a more playable position on the edge of the fairway.
And later on, Woods showed his temperament remains combustible, hitting his ball into the crowd at the 14th and dropping his club in anger while shouting in anguish - maybe the most heartfelt show of emotion we've seen from Woods since his return to the public eye. Still, he kept a lid on the anger to a certain extent, refraining from expletives and even smiling, chatting to his fellow players and acknowledging the crowd. It's a charm offensive and we're not convinced it will last, but you have to give the guy marks for trying, at least.
That Woods' performance in the first round needs to be kept in perspective is clear; though he played well, he wasn't even the lowest scorer in his three-man group, that honour going to South Korea's KJ Choi, who finished a shot better than Woods on five-under. But Woods has traditionally taken a slow-burning approach to victory.
Under the circumstances, his play here was better than it had any right to be. Those who have laid the man on the betting exchanges may be feeling more nervous than most as this weekend progresses. Because once he hits the fairways, there is very little that fazes this man.
Even the last few days have seen real developments that can hardly have helped Woods prepare for the tournament. On the night before play begun, Billy Payne, chairman Augusta National, attacked Woods off-field antics using surprisingly muscular language.
More perplexingly, there was also a breathtakingly tasteless Nike advertisement featuring a monochrome shot of a suitably chastened-looking Woods gazing mournfully at the camera, while an old recording of Woods' now-deceased father's voice asked searching questions of his son. Whatever the opposite of a hole-in-one is, Woods' PR people - nope, let's say Woods himself - must have been aiming to rack up a whole bunch of them with that monstrosity.
Actually, the timing of the ad serves to tell us more about Woods than any well-rehearsed press interview ever could. Away from the course, Woods really isn't any great shakes as a human being. But as a golfer, even his most vociferous critic would have to admit that the guy isn't too shabby.
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