amateur great bobby Jones once spoke of the immense difference between
golf, tournament golf and championship golf, and for all the progress that 14-
time major winner tiger woods has made in revamping his swing yet again
over the last 18 months, his performance at the masters showed his game
is not yet ready for the championship variety. two weeks after an impres-
sive five-stroke victory at the arnold palmer invitational, woods arrived at
augusta national gc as the favorite for a fifth green jacket. instead, he was
shockingly out of sorts with his swing and crashed to a five-over-par 293
total and t-40 finish, his worst masters performance in both departments as
a professional. for only the third time he didn’t break par in any round. only
his petulant behavior was more unseemly, particularly during friday’s sec-
ond round when he produced a series of ugly moments, culminating with his
angrily kicking his club on the 16th tee after spraying a 9-iron into the right
bunker. he apologized after a couple of additional outbursts saturday, but
the behavioral regression was unfortunate after it appeared that woods, at
36, had matured sufficiently to keep such outbursts to a minimum, especial-
ly after all the personal turmoil the past few years. but, then, it was a week of
regression for woods, shocking all the way around. —D.S.
andre w redington/getty images
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