Tiger Woods at Masters 2015: Grading Tiger's Round 1 Performance
The good news? Tiger Woods didn't show any signs of chipping yips in his opening-round 73. The bad news? Tiger Woods' opening-round 73 places him nine strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth entering the second round.
Woods was tied for 41st at one over par when he finished his round.
How did the four-time champion fare in the various facets of his golf game during his first competitive round since early February? What was his final grade for the day?
Click through to see.
Driving: B
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In his first round, Tiger Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways. For the sake of comparison, Woods hit 55 percent of fairways last year.
At the beginning of the year, there was discussion about his increase in clubhead speed (and thus driving distance) both as a function of health and swing changes under Chris Como. Indeed, his measured clubhead speed this year is nearly 120 mph—among the fastest on tour. The 39-year-old did indeed have some of his early-career pop back as he pounded the ball off the tee at Augusta in his opening round.
Woods nearly drove the green at the short par-four fourth hole with a 325-yard bomb. He piped one 311 yards down the middle at the 11th and crushed a 317-yarder at the 18th.
There were some lowlights: Woods hit a horrendous pull off the ninth tee that ended up in the first fairway. And he called himself a "dumbass" after leaving his drive well out to the right at the 15th.
Still, hitting 71 percent of fairways is pretty darn good and above the field average of 66 percent, and his length off the tee was impressive. Woods will rue his inability to capitalize on good drives more than the few loose ones he hit Thursday.
An "A-plus" performance would be hitting 14 of 14 fairways, and a "C" would be hitting seven. Thus, we'll call Woods' 10-of-14 a B, almost a B-plus.
Iron Play: C-
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While Tiger Woods' brilliant 165-yard recovery shot from the trees at the seventh could be the enduring image of him with an iron in his hand, there is another candidate: the woefully short iron tee shot at the par-three 12th, which found the water.
Such was Woods' day with an iron in his hand. The Stanford alum hit 11 of 18 greens for his round (61 percent).
There's no doubt he wasn't as precise as he would like to have been in the iron department. He was well short on his tee shot at the par-three fourth. He hung an iron out to the right, missing on the wrong side of the par-three sixth. At the 10th, he found a green-side bunker from the middle of the fairway. At the 11th, after finding the middle of the fairway with a booming 320-yard drive, Woods hung his iron approach 30 yards out to the right.
The coup de grace, as mentioned, was the tee shot at the 12th, which came up woefully short. Based on Woods' face as the ball was in the air, he didn't look as though he had failed to strike the ball the way he wanted to, so it was likely the wrong club choice...which doesn't necessarily make things any better.
Woods hit another poor iron at the par-five 15th, coming up well short from just under 120 yards.
Ultimately, Woods should have done much better from the positions he played from most of the round. He didn't hit the ball close enough to make birdie on the par fours and hit unimpressive irons off three of the par threes. The numbered clubs was the main reason he carded a 73 and not a 68.
A good player expects to hit closer to 70 percent of greens in regulation. If doing that would earn a golfer a B, then a C-minus for Woods is the right grade here.
Around the Greens: B+
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The facet of Tiger's game that inspired the greatest intrigue entering the Masters was actually very good Thursday. The hours of practice the former world No. 1 put in over the past two months have eradicated whatever "yippiness" had crept into his short game.
While Woods may not have been overwhelmingly brilliant around the greens in his opening round, he was vastly better than the chunking, duffing mess he was at the Hero World Challenge and Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year.
A few highlights: Woods made an excellent sand save from the front bunker at the 10th. After finding the collection area well right of the green, he made a tidy 30-yard pitch to save par at the 11th. And after dunking his tee shot at the 12th, Woods executed a superb 40-yard pitch after dropping to two feet at the 12th. He also made a nice up-and-down from the bank in front of the 15th.
Woods' short game was not an issue at all. Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker tweeted it best:
"It feels wrong to say it ... but Tiger's short game has been the best part of his game today.
— GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) April 9, 2015"
Getting up-and-down every time necessary would earn a player an A. As shocking as it is to say given his recent issues, Woods did nearly that. B-plus it is.
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Putting: B+
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Woods didn't give himself the looks at birdie he would have liked, which led to a bounty of two-putts. Aside from a sloppy three-putt at the first, Woods' putting was quite good. His three birdies were of the kick-in variety at the par-five second, eighth and 13th holes.
Check out the distances of Tiger's missed birdie putts, per the Masters' excellent track tool.
- No. 1: 43'
- No. 3: 21'
- No. 5: 25'
- No. 7: 21'
- No. 14: 41'
- No. 16: 21'
- No. 17: 25'
- No. 18: 59'
Would he have liked to see one of the putts above find the cup? Sure. Should he have expected any of them to? Not really. The best players on tour do little better than 13 percent from beyond 20 feet.
His birdie effort at the par-three 16th was particularly heartbreaking. Woods was one roll short on a 21-footer that was heading dead in the heart of the cup. Again, he'd surely liked to have made it, but you can't expect to make a lot of birdies at Augusta National when you're putting from beyond 20 feet.
From a percentage standpoint, you'd also think a golfer would three-putt more than once from the distances above. Woods didn't. His lines were good; his speed was just a little off. He was one or two rolls away from having an "A" putting day.
Course Management: B
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Tiger Woods is a Masters winner four times over. You didn't expect him to make many mental mistakes around Augusta National, and he didn't. The major mistakes he made were the product of a failure to execute.
His miss wide right at the 11th is a good example. Woods failed to execute the swinging right-to-left shot he'd envisioned, but he was playing the right shot shape for where a golfer has to miss on the hole: to the right.
There were, however, a few biffs. Woods made a curious decision to try to hit a wood over the trees from the first fairways after an atrocious drive off the ninth tee landed there. The mishit ball didn't make it 100 yards and found the shrubbery. It also looked like Woods needed one more club on his tee shot at the 12th, as he didn't appear to mishit the tee shot.
An "A" here would mean no mental mistakes. As Woods recorded a couple of them, he gets a B.
Final Grade: C+
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Ultimately, this round was defined by Woods' inability to get the ball close enough on his iron approach shots. The other facets of his game were passable enough to have carded a round in the 60s.
Think about it: If he'd hit the ball a cumulative 20 yards closer on his iron approaches for the day, he'd likely have made three or four more birdies. If that had been the case, Woods would have signed for a 69 or 70, rather than a 73.
On a day where he needed his A-game to keep up with Jordan Spieth's torrid pace, Woods could only manage a C-plus effort. He'll begin his second round nine strokes off the lead. In other words, he'll need an "A" Friday if he has any hope of slipping into the green jacket come Sunday.
For the record, here's how Woods felt about his round, per Kyle Porter of CBS Sports: "I felt good out there. The only thing I really struggled with was the pace of the greens. We were talking about it all day. It's hard to get yourself committed to hit the putts that hard even though they were all downhill."
All stats via PGATour.com and Masters.com.
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