AUGUSTA NATIONAL — Tiger Woods has probably never read Chaucer, but the father of English literature had a pretty good read on Woods’ sad unravelling on Masters Saturday.
“Human events or concerns cannot stop the passage of time or the movement of the tides,” Chaucer wrote in the Clerk’s Tale, an observation which has contracted over the centuries to find more common expression as “time waits for no man”.
The resilience of Friday, the absolute refusal to bend in testing conditions was absent on a day when reality bit hard.
Woods negotiated 23 holes across a period of eight hours in two under par on Friday. Though seven shots back he set out on Saturday imagining he might march on as he did in the peak years. He was indulged in this fantasy by galleries still invested in the idea of miracles.
But this is elite sport, an agent of truth that has little time for romance. Woods had played only once this year at the Genesis Invitational in February, and had to withdraw from that. His last four completed rounds came in December at the Hero World Challenge, where he finished 18th of 20. There was little evidence to support Woods making the cut here.
Of course he talked about the “W”. He is hard wired to think that way, and we are conditioned to believe him. Augusta National had no regard for the Woods legend. The par Woods recorded at the last was as good as it got. What came before was a reminder of the folly of falling for the seductive powers of myth.
Woods posted three bogeys and two doubles in the space of six holes on his outward nine. Five bogeys in six holes would follow on the back nine for a round of 82. Being the champion he is, he raised his putter in salute and removed his cap to salute the galleries that remained loyal throughout the round.
The battle for the lead played out in relatively empty spaces. Not until Woods took his leave did the galleries divert to the holes behind. And what a contest was unfolding.
The overnight leaders Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa were joined by Ludwig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard, unheard of before the Ryder Triumph in Rome, plus Collin Morikawa. All three held outright or had a share of the lead at one point.
Having set the mark at eight under par at his third hole of the day, Scheffler doubled the tenth and bogeyed the 11th to fall back to four under par. Two holes later he had a share of the lead again with an eagle at the par-5 13th. Talk about moving day.
After moving inexorably in the opposite direction, Woods admitted that Friday had taken a lot out of him. “I was not hitting it very good or putting well. I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today. Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.
“And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makeable putts. I missed a lot of them. It’s just that I haven’t competed and played much. When I had chances to get it flipped around after that putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way.”
Get ready for a Sunday to remember
Golf is a game of 72 holes at the end of which Scottie Scheffler is crowned the winner. That is the inevitable narrative the rest of the leaderboard is fighting on what promises to be a Masters Sunday to remember. On a Saturday of seismic shifts half a dozen players vied for the lead until Scheffler strode out of the shadows to take a one-shot lead into the final day.
Bryson De Chambeau endured a torrid back nine that included three bogeys and a double. He was in trouble again at the last before holing out for a birdie from 77 yards to finish four back on three under par. A player who could barely put one foot in front of the other after doubling the par-5 15th ended an afternoon of snakes and ladders high-fiving his caddie and triggering one final roar across the 18th green.
Jeopardy is baked in at Augusta National, a course designed to make or break the fortunes of competitors. Though the wind had dropped, turbulent air swirling at 10mph in this bowl is impediment enough, and with a hot sun hardening the greens none was safe.
The promise of a Tiger Woods resurrection never materialised and neither defending champion Jon Rahm nor Rory McIlroy could lay a glove on the course. Woods limping home in 82 and Rahm and McIlroy becalmed might have sucked the life from the day, yet once again the tournament reminded us of its capacity to enthral no matter what, and to cast new stars when the demand arises.
Masters leaderboard
- 1st: Scottie Scheffler -7
- 2nd: Collin Morikawa -6
- 3rd: Max Homa -5
- 4th: Ludvig Aberg -4
- 5th: Bryson DeChambeau -3
- T6: Xander Schauffele, Cameron Davis, Nicolai Hojgaard -2
- T9: Byeong Hun An, Cameron Smith, Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood -1
See full leaderboard on the official Masters website
Scheffler began with a share of the lead alongside DeChambeau and Max Homa. After two birdies in his opening three holes Scheffler was already three clear of DeChambeau, who dropped a shot at the third. Scheffler maintained hegemony until the turn. Thereafter, Europe’s Ryder Cup tyros Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg, unknowns before the conquest of Rome, hit the summit in turn.
The air is thin up there on Masters Saturday. Hojgaard’s need for oxygen was clear as he bogeyed each of the next five holes. “If I knew how to do it [stop the bleeding] I probably would have done it,” he said, laconically.
Hojgaard’s rapid descent allowed Collin Morikawa to resume the lead he shared from the tenth hole, soon to be joined by Aberg after a birdie at 13. The hitherto unflappable Swede then suffered the same fate as Hojgaard, posting successive bogeys at his next two holes.
An eagle at 13 sucked Scheffler back into the joint lead, one ahead of Homa. As the players exited Amen Corner there was no algorithm in the world that would indicate what a good score might be or who might finish the day on top. It was, if you will, a sporting refutation of the power of AI to replicate the human experience.
Scheffler would eventually emerge with his nose in front. Convention suggests he will prevail. However, Augusta reserves the right to disagree. “It was very challenging out there,” Scheffler said. “But it’s a major championship. I don’t think Augusta wants their golf course to be easy.”