Tom Watson found the water not once, but twice on the 12th hole during an opening-round 78.
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A daily look at the happenings surrounding Tiger Woods at Augusta:
Woods was in the fifth-to-last group of the day, looking to maximize his television appeal. He opened with a bogey, flying his tee shot to the right, but picked up birdies at the third, seventh and ninth holes to shoot 34 on the front. He also bogeyed the 10th, but birdied the 15th -- the only one of the four par-5s that Woods picked up ground on.
"This is a major championship," Woods said. "There are four days. Everyone knows it's awfully hard to go out there and shoot in the mid-60s every day in a major."
Woods had 29 putts on the round -- more than he'd like. James Driscoll had 23.
Finnish amateur Mikko Ilonen didn't seem to be fazed by playing with Woods. He shot an even-par 72 -- 10 shots better than his last competitive round in the U.S., an 82 at Bay Hill.
Ilonen returns to Finland and military duty next week. "I'd rather play golf," he said. "I'm here now. I don't want to think about the Army."
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All in the family
Steve Stricker and his caddie take their work home every night. They can't help it -- they live at the same place.
This week, that's Augusta National, where Stricker is one shot out of the lead after one round of The Masters. Nikki Stricker is his caddie, returning to the bag she carried for several years when Steve first joined the PGA Tour.
"We enjoy being out there together," Stricker said. "She's always expressed a big interest in getting out there and caddying again."
When Stricker was battling Vijay Singh for the PGA Championship in 1998, Nikki was home awaiting the birth of their first child. When he won the World Match Play Championship in January in Australia, she didn't make the trip.
Stricker says it isn't a jinx to have her back.
"We get along great on the course," Stricker said. "It's a team effort, because, you know, she kind of lives and dies with every shot that I hit, maybe even more so on some of my bad ones."
The golf business is a family affair for the Strickers. Nikki's father, Dennis Tiziani, is Steve's coach.
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Real Tin Cup: Bel-Air Country Club caddie Greg Puga, the subject of much interest at Augusta this week, birdied his first hole and was 1-under through nine holes. But he shot 41 on the back nine and carded a 76. Afterward, he ws careful not to blame his caddie. "The caddies have stopped and said they were rooting for me," he said.
Old men walking: The marquee grouping of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer delivered some good golf. Nicklaus and Player both shot 73. Among those they beat: Hal Sutton (74), Mike Weir (74), Fred Couples (74), Tom Lehman (75) and Stewart Cink (75). Palmer was 3-over through nine, but a quadruple-bogey on No. 13 left him with an 82.
Splish, splash: Tom Watson came to the 12th hole at 3-over. He left after a quadruple-bogey 7, spinning an 8-iron back into the water, then dunking a sand wedge from the drop area. "I thought I was having a Tom Weiskopf moment," Watson said, recalling the 13 Weiskopf made during the first round in 1980.
Insult and injury: Nick Faldo took a triple-bogey at No. 12. Then he suffered a nose bleed. Then he was warned for slow play while attending to it. He finished with a 3-over 75.
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OVERHEARD
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DIMARCO
On his unique putting style: "One of you guys called it the Psycho Grip because it was pretty funky looking, I guess. I've read that a few times, and it's never been questioned." |
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FURYK
On what some called slow greens Thursday: "I could never use the word 'slow' when I played Augusta National. I would say that they were not quite as quick." |
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CABERA
On why he no longer seems angry and aggressive on the golf course: "I was losing too much money." |
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JANZEN
On playing well on challenging courses: "The harder the courses, the more you have to concentrate. Maybe I just have ADD, or HD, or whatever they call it." |
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