Notes and Quotes from the Masters:
Woods shoots 66, has peek at 5th jacket – The Masters Tournament
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods made his move in the second round Friday, shooting a back-nine 31 for a 66 that moved him to a tie for third, at seven under, three behind Rory McIlroy. So he’s at least getting a peek at a fifth Masters championship. In an earlier day, this might be the next thing to a lock. But now, with the most famous erratic game in the world, it’s a watch-don’t-bet situation.“So I played myself back in the championship,” Woods said. “We have still got 36 more holes.”
Woods bogeyed Nos. 1, 3 and 7, then made seven birdies over the last 11 holes, and three straight from the 13th.
“I think it’s just how patient I was today,” Woods explained. “I think that was the key. You have to stay patient.”
The big question: Can he do it over the next 36 holes.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” he said, fending off the question. “The forecast is supposed to get a little bit warmer. The ball is going to start flying probably a little bit. There are going to be some good pins out there tomorrow. You know – we’ll see what they do on the greens, see if they firm them up or not.
“I mean, this is what – the lowest cut in Masters history, isn’t it? I mean, there’s so many guys with a chance to play themselves into the tournament tomorrow.”
The answer: I don’t wanna answer that question.
* McILROY UNFLINCHING – It would seem to be a candle in the wind for a mere 21-year-old to be leading the Masters, but anyone waiting for Rory McIlroy to flinch will have to wait for another day. McIlroy hit a bump at the par-3 12th, dropping an 8-iron into the bunker and taking his only bogey of the Masters so far. But he bounced right back with a birdie at the par-5 13th, two-putting after reaching the green, then parring in for a 69 and a 10-under 134 and a two-shot lead on Jason Day.
(Watch for the pins from here on out. The Masters folks might not take kindly to 10 under for two rounds.)
“I didn’t expect to shoot another 65,” McIlroy said. “I played pretty much flawlessly yesterday. I played pretty similar today, but I didn’t hole many putts on the back nine.”
He tied for 20th in his first Masters in 2009 and missed the cut last year. The threats are starting to bubble up around him.
“I’ll just be concentrating on the golf course,” he said. “If you start thinking about anyone else where – if you let your mind wander – it can cost you a couple of shots. I don’t care what anyone else does. I don’t need to know. I’m two shots ahead, and I’m in a better position.”
* TURNING UP THE HEAT – Woods was just another threat for 21-year-old Rory McIlroy to contemplate when he took to his leisure Friday night. Jason Day, 23, also shot 31 coming in for a tournament-best 64 to take second place, two behind McIlroy.
Day, of Australia, is playing in his first Masters, and he’s not treating Augusta National with the timidity a first-timer is expected to show. He birdied three times on the front nine, five times on the back, and had no bogeys.
“I have to look at this scoreboard,” Day said, “because I really didn’t know what I was shooting out there. I didn’t want to get too high. I didn’t want to get too low. I just tried to stay as patient as I could.”
* RISK-REWARD, NO RISK, REWARD ANYWAY – The best way to birdie Augusta’s par-5s is to go for the green in two. Don’t tell that to David Toms. He birdied both 5s coming in, the 13th and 15th, and shot 69 for a 141 total. “Both holes, I laid up,” Toms said. “I had a good number [yardage] both times. I hit lob wedge in there inside 10 feet both times, and made a nice putt.”
* CARROT ON A STICK – South Africa’s Trevor Immelman had nothing much going for him in the 2008 Masters, other than he was coming back from rib surgery and was playing in pain. Winning it by three shots over Tiger Woods made him feel better, but it’s been injury and aches and frustration ever since. “What’s kept me going,” said Immelman, who shot 73-142 Friday, “is the fact that I feel like I got more in me than the tournaments I won. And I’m only 31. I mean, my best golf should really be ahead of me. What else have I got to do? Look after my kids?”
* SCHOOLDAYS – It’s called “going to school” – watching another guy’s putt to see what it does. In this case, South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel went to school on countryman Ernie Els’ chip shot at the 18th in practice, and then Friday remembered what not to do. “He went at the hole, and it went down and actually went off the green,” Schwartzel said. “After witnessing what Ernie did, I just went to the left and figured the longest I’m going to have is six feet if I hit a decent putt up there.” And so he saved his par on a two-putt and shot 71 for a 140 total. “All in all,” he said, “I would take a 71 and run.”
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