AUGUSTA, Ga. >> Early on during a blustery Saturday morning, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were at the bottom of the Masters leaderboard — Nos. 52 and 53.
It appeared that the dream pairing might take place after all, only first thing this morning, instead of early afternoon. By the time they finished their third rounds of the first major championship in professional golf, moving day took them down Magnolia Avenue, instead of up.
This was perhaps the most anticipated Masters ever, a revival of sorts for the 40-somethings in this elite field. Woods eventually moved away from the bottom feeders to start the final round tied for 40th in a field of 53.
Mickelson wasn’t as fortunate. He walked off the par-4 third at 3 under for the tournament on Friday and in the thick of the chase. But over the next 17 holes Mickelson shot 12 over to drop to the bottom of the charts at 9 over for the tournament before an eagle at eight and a birdie at nine gave him some life. A triple bogey at nine on Friday and another to start his round on Saturday contributed to his demise. He finished 2 over for his round and 7 over for the tournament in a tie for 50th with Houston Open winner Ian Poulter and Brian Harman. Only Vijay Singh has a worse score at 8 over.
Woods’ descent wasn’t quite as noticeable. Instead of falling off a cliff as Mickelson did, his was a grind decline. He began his day with back-to-back bogeys before righting the ship somewhat with a string of pars and a hole-out from the bunker at the par-3 sixth and a birdie at the eighth to get back to even making the turn. He pretty much stayed there the rest of the day, shooting an even-par 72 to remain 4 over for the event.
Knowing Woods and Mickelson, once they were out of contention, their interest in their golf games waned somewhat. For them, if you can’t win, what’s the point? That line of thinking was why Jack Nicklaus set the game aside and went on to other things. If he couldn’t win he didn’t want to play just for the sake of a T-50. He was too proud for that.
Woods and Mickelson aren’t there yet, but both are disappointed at how they’ve played this week.
“I don’t have it,” Mickelson said. “It’s frustrating being out there. But it’s still Augusta. I’m trying to make do. But it’s just frustrating to be out there when you know you don’t have a chance.”
As for Woods, he’s taking the time to work on his game, particularly his iron play, which he believes has let him down most of all.
“Hopefully, I can hit my irons better,” Woods said. “It’s been scratchy this week. I just haven’t gotten it done. I feel like I’m driving it better than I have all year, but I’m not capitalizing on it. And when I did miss on my drives, I missed in the wrong spots. It’s been frustrating because I’ve been putting so well. I just haven’t hit it close enough for those putts to go in.”
