Sixty eight (4 under) is the best ever opening round that Tiger has had in a Masters; this is the first time that he has had two eagles (and narrowly missed a third) in any round at the Masters; if his putter was working today (6 putts under 12 feet missed), he would have shot 64 or better and blown the field away. Given that this is his first competitive round in five months, that he has huge non-golf pressures on him and that he did not know how the spectators would treat him, he announced his return with thunderous roars upon thunderous roars from adoring fans.
Tiger is back. Nothing will disturb him now, certainly not the heat of competition, not the biplane droning overhead trailing nasty streamers, nor the cutting remarks of some ill-meaning detractors. He is back and the entire golfing world loves it; the players, all types of media, the various golf tours, the equipment makers and the potential sponsors, who will surely have to shell out more now. Everyone is hoping Tiger will heal the rift with his family and build a complete and wholesome life, which is possibly the only missing component in the hero narrative.
| NUMBERS GAME | ||
| Position | Player | Score |
| 1 | Fred Couples | -6 |
| T2 | Tom Watson | -5 |
| T2 | Phil Mickelson | -5 |
| T2 | Y. Yang | -5 |
| T2 | Lee Westwood | -5 |
| T2 | K.J. Choi | -5 |
| T7 | Ian Poulter | -4 |
| T7 | A. Kim | -4 |
| T7 | N. Watney | -4 |
| T7 | R. Barnes | -4 |
| T7 | Tiger Woods | -4 |
The day started with the ceremonial tee off Palmer-Nicklaus duet and pretty soon the leader board was awash in red. Angel Cabrera (El Pato, because of his ducklike Waddle-alk), despite being the defending champion was strangely, virtually unheralded. He talks less and plods along and pretty soon was leading the field at 3 under after 9. A little later he succumbed, on the eagleable 13th, to one of the dangerous pitfalls awaiting careless players and finished 7 shots back and now has no chance. His only role left now is to place the Green Jacket on the shoulders of the eventual 2010 Masters Champion.
Tom Watson, winner of 8 Majors and the real hero of THE OPEN 2009, where, at the age of 59, he lost in a play off, was the only player today to have his entire score card in red figures and was the club house leader at 5 under, before Fred Couples (50 years of age) who has won the last 3 starts on the seniors tour shot 66 to be the overnight leader at 6 under. Ernie Els showed greater colour early on but could not capitalise on the easy 13th and 15th holes and double-bogied the last to lie 5 shots back with an outside chance. As predicted, somebody did Four putt! David Duval who was playing well, uncharacteristically let his concentration slip on the 14th green and now suffers the ignominy of this outcome.
The day started cooler than yesterday, with strong gusting winds. The country flags atop the main leader board fluttered noisily, chattily, while the sun played hide and seek amongst the cloud. Tornado forewarnings, which would have made Indian cricket gamblers reverse their bets were ignored by the patrons, but the wind condition caused many excellent players, notably Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk to have great difficulty and their otherwise perfectly hit shot went either too long or too short. On some exposed greens the pins were arching over and the players flapping trousers caused several easy putts to be missed.
And now, the tee off time for Tiger approached. Never ever before had the galleries emptied from other matches to watch the “first” shot by any player in any tournament, as though it were the winning shot on the final green. When Tiger’s drive landed 300 yards away in perfect position, the spectators exploded in spontaneous applause drowning the drone of the biplane overhead.
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It became evident that Tiger was gaining confidence with each shot. The near missed and lipped out putts did not cause the same violent histrionics as before. Tiger came to life with a 12-foot eagle putt on the 8th, and while he had some superb shots, the prize would surely go to the wrap around the bunch of pines hook to the 9th green. Tiger’s youthful anxiety over this extremely difficult but made to look effortless shot, saw him dancing sideways about 20 meters to see its final outcome. He birdied! The charge was on.
The many different hues of green at Augusta National which appear bright and cheerful under sunny conditions, wore a sombre dark tone under rapidly graying skies. The rain came pelting down but the spectators were not to be deprived of watching Tiger play. He missed short putts for par or birdie on 10, 11,12,13 (for eagle), 14, 16 and 18. Such a magic show was more than what the spectators bargained for. Moreover, Tiger’s threesome netted the best combined score of 11 under par and was definitely the match to watch.
There are hundreds of stories available from this most remarkable and memorable opening day at the Masters. The most remarkable event of the day was Tiger being warmly accepted back, with only a few reluctant to forgive. He is basking in the obvious success of the day and his responses are not cool, distant and arrogant as in the past; they are warm, receptive and friendly, and his behaviour on the course acknowledged applause with pretty good crowd interaction. We have a new Tiger and in this new avatar, he is more formidable than ever. The second day, with tighter pin placements, player’s character will be fully tested.
Tiger is crouching, waiting.