The hole lengths, and their names (ClariNews):
Hole Name of Hole Par Distance ---- ----------- --- -------- 1 Tea Olive 4 400 2 Pink Dogwood 5 555 3 Flowering Peach 4 360 4 Flowering Crab Apple 3 205 5 Magnolia 4 435 6 Juniper 3 180 7 Pampas 4 360 8 Yellow Jasmine 5 535 9 Carolina Cherry 4 453 ---- --- -------- Out 36 3,465 10 Carmellia 4 485 11 White Dogwood 4 455 12 Golden Bell 3 155 13 Azalea 5 485 14 Chinese Fir 4 405 15 Firethorn 5 500 16 Redbud 3 170 17 Nandina 4 400 18 Holly 4 405 ---- --- -------- In 36 3,460The course is a par-72, measuring 6,925 yards.
However, Tiger's front nine was a horror-show. He was paired with Nick Faldo (tradition has the reigning US Amateur champ paired with last year's winner), and both put up awful scores in the front nine (41 for Faldo, 40 for Tiger).
Tiger's score card on the first nine:
In 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 36 Woods 5 5 4 4 4 3 4 6 5 40With this as the start of Tiger's first Masters as a professional, it seemed as if all the hype about Tiger was a little premature. But then came the rush.
Tiger's tenth hole was a birdie, to Faldo's par. Although this wasn't match play, it is a little difficult to resist keeping track of holes won and halved. This birdie was the first birdie of Tiger's round. Both would par the 11th.
The 12th hole featured Tiger's huge tee shot setting up a second shot that unfortunately fell outside the green. Faldo's ball would fall in the same general area. Tiger responded by holing the long bump and run for his second birdie. Faldo halved the back nine match by holing the 12th for his birdie as well. This would be Faldo's second birdie at this hole, in all the years he has been playing the Masters.
On the fifteenth hole (Tiger birdied 13th, and parred 14th), Tiger displayed great daring, by firing his second shot within three feet of the hole. He was 1-over at the start of this hole, but after his eagle putt, he was now 1-under, and in the hunt.
In the end, Tiger would finish par-birdie-par, and his 6-under 30 score on the back nine was one shot more than the back nine record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 1992 (he shot a 29).
Tiger's back nine score card was a complete turnaround for him:
Out 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4 36 -- 72 Woods 3 4 2 4 4 3 3 3 4 30 -- 70 (2-under)According to Clari News, "Tournament officials said the scoring average of 76.09 was the fifth highest for an opening round in the 61-year history of the Masters." Tiger, in the television interview after his round said that "it was a struggle from the get go." Because of the course difficulty (there were complaints of bad pin placement, and extremely fast greens), the scores by the top five were all the more special:
1. John Huston 36-31--67 5-under 2. Paul Stankowski 35-33--68 4-under 3. Paul Azinger 33-36--69 3-under 4. Tiger Woods 40-30--70 2-under T5. Costantino Rocca 38-33--71 1-under T5. Jose Maria Olazabal 35-36--71 T5. Nick Price 36-35--71
Note: Steve Scott, the runner-up in last year's US Amateur with Tiger Woods, played at Augusta as well. He finished the first round with a score of 6-over 78.
"I don't know how to best describe my feelings, but I came here to win it all," said Tiger Woods, according to the Boston Globe.
Tiger eagled a 20-footer on the 13th, tapped in a birdie on the 14th, and birdied the 15th. He took six strokes off his front nine score from yesterday, while posting the low-score of the tournament. The papers emphasized his dominance on the par-5 holes, playing them today in 5-under. Jack Nicklaus said, according to UPI, "He makes the golf course into nothing. If he's playing well, the golf course becomes nothing."
Tiger's second round score card:
In 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 36 Woods 4 4 5 3 3 3 4 4 4 34 Out 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4 36 -- 72 Woods 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 32 -- 66Missing the cut were Greg Norman (+7) and Nick Faldo (+12), last year's final round contenders.
Reuter's opening paragraph from 2:40 PDT (online):
AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuter) - Tiger Woods, seemingly playing a different golf course -- and a different game -- than everyone else, continued his march towards destiny Saturday as he opened up a massive eight-stroke lead in the Masters.Later, I wound find out (online) that he shot a 65, for a 15-under 201, which ties him for the lowest 54 hole scoring total (held by Ray Floyd, 1976). Tiger did not make a single bogey in today's round, again the best score of the day.
Tiger has said a number of ties that he was unable to play at his level during his years as an amateur because of finals at Stanford. According to Reuters, Jeff Sluman cracked "I wish he had stayed in school and gotten his PhD."
At risk tomorrow are a number of records: youngest player to win the Masters since Seve Ballesteros (who was 23 years old when he won in 1980), Jack Nicklaus and Ray Floyd's 72-hole score of 271 (1965 and 1976 respectively), and the largest margin of victory (9 storkes, held by Jack Nicklaus, 1965).
And the way Tiger plays this course, Jack's record of six victories at the Masters, will be put to a severe test over the next several years.
His third round score card:
In 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 36 Woods 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 32 Out 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4 36 -- 72 Woods 4 3 3 5 4 4 3 4 3 33 -- 65
Tiger is now the youngest player to win the famed Green Jacket. Tiger broke Jack Nicklaus' record for widest margin of victory at the Masters (Tiger was 12 strokes better than the surging Tom Kite). Tiger also broke Jack Nicklaus and Ray Floyd's record for best score in the Masters by one stroke (Tiger scored a 18-under 270).
Tiger won $486,000, and the win catapaults him into first place in Ryder Cup standings (he earned 300 points today, for a total of 800).
His fourth round score card:
In 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 36 Woods 4 4 4 3 5 3 5 4 4 36 Out 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4 36 -- 72 Woods 4 3 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 33 -- 69