Class Dismissed: He’ll Be Back Woods Earns Above-Average Grade At Masters

Tiger Woods strolled off the 18th green at Augusta National after a fist-pumping birdie Sunday, made his usual stops on the interview circuit and prepared for his transformation back to college student.

“I’ve got a class at 9 a.m. tomorrow,” said the Stanford freshman, rolling his eyes. “History.”

Woods, the 19-year-old wunderkind, completed his historic Masters debut with his third par-72 round in four days, finishing with a 3-over 293 that made him the low amateur in the tournament.

He already knew that would be the case since no other amateur even made the cut.

“It has been very memorable because I played extremely well,” said Woods, who last August became the youngest U.S. Amateur champion in history at age 18.

Just as he had been all week, Woods was bedeviled only by his iron play. His booming drives were straight and as long as anybody in the field, he chipped and putted with the touch of a veteran, but his approach shots consistently sailed over the green, turning birdies into pars, pars into bogeys.

Tiger, it turned out, was simply too strong for his own good.

“I just didn’t hit my irons well,” he said. Actually, “I hit them well, but I didn’t hit them the right distance.”

Other than the golf, Woods said he’ll never forget his experience in the “Crow’s Nest,” the group of rooms on the second floor of the clubhouse where the amateurs are housed.

“I had a lot of fun up there,” he said, grinning. “I always get lost when I go in there. It took me a few days to get acclimated. There are so many doors that lead - well, I don’t know where they lead.”

One of those doors leads to the champions’ locker room, where Woods hopes to have a stall of his own some day.