Differing paths for Tiger, Phil
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The two biggest names in golf appeared to be headed for similar rounds after their first nine holes Friday at the Masters.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson each had an up-and-down early part of their day, but Woods was able to come alive on the back nine. Mickelson, however, was not.
That left Woods at 7 under after two rounds at Augusta after shooting a 6-under-par 66 to go with his first-round 71, while Mickelson is at 2 under after rounds of 70 and 72.
Woods’ front nine included four birdies and three bogeys, but he shot a 31 on the back nine with five birdies and four pars. Woods really came alive after a bogey on the seventh hole that dropped him to even par for the tournament as he responded by finishing 7 under the rest of the way. At one point, Woods made six birdies in eight holes.
He had three straight birdies twice, starting at the eighth hole and then again starting at the 13th.
“I was trying to get to under par at the turn. That was kind of the goal,” Woods said. “And then I pieced together a good back nine, made a couple of more and got a little bit hot.”
Woods, who has won the tournament four times, wrapped up his round with a birdie on the 18th. He is tied for third with K.J Choi, three shots behind Rory McIlroy.
“I’m three back,” Woods said. “I’m right where I need to be. I’ve closed the gap after (Thursday’s) round, and hopefully (today), I can piece together another good round, stay patient and plod my way along.”
Mickelson will have to do more than that after he couldn’t get things going Friday.
His front nine included three birdies and three bogeys, and his roller-coaster round continued with a birdie on the 10th and a bogey on the 11th. From there, Mickelson finished with seven straight pars.
“I left a lot of shots out there. With my short game I saved par a lot the first day and felt really sharp,” Mickelson said. “And (Friday), it was just a little bit off. There were six times I thought I would get up-and-down, and I didn’t. I can’t afford to do that, because that’s my game plan to give myself angles to where I can take advantage of my short game. I left way too many shots out there.”