Jamie Squire
LORNE RUBENSTEIN -- "Are you ready for the big showdown?" a colleague just asked me when I entered the media centre. Of course he was referring to the news conference that Tiger Woods will be holding at 2 PM. I'd just come in from following Woods during the last four holes of his practice round.
Fred Couples went all the way around with Woods while Furyk joined them for the last five holes.
As soon as I returned to the media centre I had a look into the interview room, which seats about 150 people. It was empty except for a couple of people. Craig Heatley, the chairman of the Masters Media Committee, was sitting on the podium as if he were preparing for the conference. He'll be taking it from the top. What will happen from there? We'll find out soon enough.
Meanwhile, you're probably wondering how Woods played and how he looked out on the course. He hit a very good shot into the par-three 16th, and then he, Couples and Furyk tried to each skip a ball across the water--a Masters tradition. Woods led what amounted to an orchestra, because he asked if Furyk and Couples were ready and then they hit low driving shots in unison. The area was jammed, at least 10 people deep. I'm 6'3" but I still could barely see the green. I'm pretty sure none of the players managed to hit the green with their skipped shots. Then, on the 17th, Woods striped his drive long and dead centre. His second to the green finished about 15' right and behind the hole. Pretty good stuff. Woods on 18 pushed his drive a bit, but it caught the fairway and he may well have been trying to hit it there because the pin was on the front left of the green.
I'd say Woods was courteous to the fans without being exuberant--not that anybody should expect such a reaction from him. Meanwhile, the spectators, excuse me, "patrons," seemed subdued in their reaction to Woods. They too were courteous, as is always the case at the Masters, but they weren't exuberant. That felt different to me. There was more enthusiasm for Couples especially. I did hear a "Welcome back, Tiger," as he approached the 18th green. But he had to get very near the green before there was much of a reaction at all.
Furyk said after the round that he "didn't tease Tiger as much as I usually do." He said he thought Woods hit plenty of good iron shots and some loose drives. Couples was asked whether he talked to Tiger about his personal life.
"It's not my goal to talk to him about his life," Couples said near the massive oak tree by the clubhouse. "I'm here to learn how to play the course." He was then asked about Woods's imminent visit with the media.''
"He's got to do that, and it'll probably be good for him to get it out of the way," Couples said.
Woods didn't talk after his round. He'll talk in less than an hour.
He'll talk, and we'll find out whether he'll say anything of substance."
Announcement just now: "For the 2 p.m. press conference, there will be no cameras or cell phones allowed."
I'm heading there in a few minutes. It's show time, that is, showdown time.