Tiger is -2 after the first day and appears to be staying strong. Will he win the tournament?
No. In the past, when he won a bunch of Majors, he was physically and mentally dominant. He can still be mentally dominant in lesser tournaments, but as yet, he still has a bit of doubt about his knees and legs and it will affect him.
Tiger will be competitive, but I feel a Masters win has to wait for next year. He may win one of the other Majors, though.
Yes, Tiger Woods will win the 2013 Masters.
(Just in case he does.)
He does appear to be playing at-ease, but is that enough for him to win?
Yeah, he’s gonna win it. What has he won - 3 of his last 4 tourneys? Most importantly, he’s been putting great.
Would really like to see DJ notch one up, after his near misses a couple of years ago. He’s pretty much my favorite player these days.
Still would have to say the smart money is on Tiger. Given his history, as long as he stays at or under par, he will most likely be in the mix Sat-Sun. How many majors has he won despite one throwaway round? If he stays away from a 75, he can be 2-3 under every other day, and maybe even post a 65.
Meanwhile, until anyone else steps up, count on everyone else to do the Tiger fade. I’ve never made any secret of my dislike for Tiger. But more than wishing he fucks up, I’d love to see another of the big boys or young guns stand tough with him down the stretch.
I’ll say what I’ve been saying for several years.
CAN Tiger win? Of course he can, and I won’t be shocked if he does.
However, I’ll be VERY surprised if he threatens Jack Nicklaus’ career majors record (five years ago, I was SURE he’d top Jack). And I’d NEVER make him odds-on favorite to win a major again.
Yes, Tiger is ranked #1 in the world again, but he’s no longer head and shoulders above everyone else. Ten years ago, competitors went into every tournament thinking, “If Tiger is anywhere close to top form, I have NO chance.” Nobpody thinks that way any more. Tiger is #1 only in the same sense that Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Nick Faldo were #1 at various times.
Tiger CAN win. But will he? If I had to bet a dollar, I’d say no.
Ten years ago, “I’ll take Tiger, and you can have the rest of the field” was not a silly bet at the Masters. Today, it is a silly bet.
Tiger won a World Golf Championship event and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, both of which have stronger fields than the Masters. The Masters is unique among majors, in that the field is diluted over-the-hill past champions, amateurs, and golfers from lesser tours that qualify automatically. Yes, the top golfers in the world are there, but you can eliminate about 25% of the field before it even starts.
Yes, Tiger is going to win.
I agree, though at this point I’m going to be cheering on Fred Couples. I love it when one of the old guys puts together a run.
Man, I can’t believe how DJ finished up his round. He was -7 going into 15, which I expected to be a gimmee birdie. Instead he double and plays the last 4 in +5?! He really is going to have to do something soon, or I fear he will turn into a head.case.
Exactly what players were at the WGC Cadillac and Bay Hill that are not in the Masters?
Ones that make you think that field is better than the Masters.
FWIW World #5 Brandt Snedeker is playing the Masters and did not play Doral
FWIW World #2 Rory McIlroy (and quite a few other highly ranked players) were not playing Bay Hill.
Guys like Charles Howell, Aaron Baddely, Geoff Ogilvy, plus a bunch of young guys that haven’t won yet. More importantly, they didn’t have Sandy Lyle and Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw and Craig Stadler and a bunch of amateurs who could barely break 80.
Not if he gets Disqualified which looks like a real possibility come Saturday morning.
Ouch, that’s a tricky one. Was his drop on a much different line? Doesn’t look like it as far as I can tell.
Based on this article, the situation doesn’t look good for Tiger.
He’s quoted as saying he intentionally dropped the ball two yards further from the hole than from where he played the shot that went into the water. That appears to directly conflict with the rule that requires the shot to be played “as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played”.
I think it was. The ball “last crossed the margin” of the water hazard when, after hitting the flagstick, it rolled into the water left of the hole.
It would have been legal to drop the ball at any point on the extension of a line drawn from the hole to this point at the edge of the water. But this would have put him well left of the green, and nowhere near the place from which he actually played.
A two shot penalty for Tiger. I think he’ll win this, mind you.
Did Tiger get any preferential treatment in not being disqualified? Tiger in contention at the Masters is going to get better ratings than a Masters without Tiger.
I like the rule that kept him from being disqualified. The situation was reviewed during the round yesterday and when he signed his card it had been determined to be correct. If that review had gone the other way and he’d been told it was a penalty, he’d have corrected his score and signed a correct card.
Disqualifying him because they said he was signing the correct score and then changed their minds is (and has been in the past), BS in my view.
But then I also don’t think that course officials should be taking calls from TV viewers reporting penalties unless they’re going to put every shot by every player on TV (at a minimum, but then still don’t like it).
Also don’t like Tiger saying “I dropped it where I intended to drop it” (specifying 'two yard" doesn’t change where he dropped it) somehow converts it from “close enough” to “too far away.” The original ruling was wrong, since there was no reason he couldn’t drop it in the damn divot, but that’s on the course officials.
I don’t understand the rule Tiger broke anyway. His drop did not improve his lie over the first shot and wasn’t closer to the hole.
He had to take the drop at the spot of his previous shot, and instead he backed up a couple yards. He wasn’t operating under the “line of sight” rule where you can back up as much as you want.