AUGUSTA – The 63rd Masters had been billed as a showdown between essentially two players, Tiger Woods, David Duval and no one else. For three days there has been an excess of discussion about their battle for world supremacy as if a back-nine showdown on Augusta National between the two on Sunday was inevitable. Don’t believe the hype.
Earlier this week, Jack Nicklaus made an important point about his rivalry with Arnold Palmer when he said, “our games created the rivalry. The rivalry was not created by the media.”
All week, a Duval-Woods confrontation has been promoted it as if it were some kind of heavyweight fight with the unemotional Duval poised to bury the over-exposed Woods. Thankfully, the first round of the Masters yesterday put that propaganda to rest, at least for now.
Augusta National showed yesterday it won’t be dominated so easily, going from lightning fast during a hot, humid morning to real lightning and rain in the afternoon making for a difficult 18 holes. Duval, who is at 1-under with one more hole to play, and Woods, who finished at even-par 72 were lucky to stay in contention much less separate themselves from the field.
Woods finished three shots off the lead. His score would have been better if not for a triple bogey on the par-5 eighth hole, where he bounced his second shot off a tree and into a bed of azaleas. The 1997 Masters champ took an unplayable lie and had to battle to stay in contention the remainder of the round.
Duval opened his round displaying the steady confidence that has lead him to 11 victories in his last 34 starts, including two straight before arriving at Augusta as an overwhelming favorite. But he faltered on the back nine, unnerved by a 95-minute rain delay and several errant shots. He showed he was mortal with three consecutive bogies on the back side, starting at the par-3 12th after his tee shot flew to the back of the green.
Their troubles proved that promoting the first major of the season as a two-man race is not only a stretch, but cheapens what is the real attraction of the pro tour as it currently stands. There aren’t just two players capable of generating genuine excitement in this 72-hole tournament, but at least a dozen who could win this weekend and a handful more worthy of our interest.
Three players share the lead after the still-to-be completed first round, including 1997 PGA Champ Davis Love III, who was virtually ignored coming into this tournament. He shot 4-under 32 on the back side including birdies on the par-3 16th and the lengthened par-4 17th. Love has finished in the top 10 here three of the last four years and is ranked No.3 in the world, but was hardly mentioned amid all of the talk of Duval-Woods.
“I’ve been the quietest No. 3 that’s ever been,” said Love, who finished second to Ben Crenshaw here in 1995.
Also at 3-under is Scott McCarron, who quit golf for four years after college because he wasn’t a good-enough putter. After watching the seniors use the long putters, McCarron built himself one in his garage and eventually joined the PGA Tour in 1995 and has won nearly $2 million. Brandel Chamblee, also at 3-under, has watched the Masters on television since 1975 and beamed with genuine excitement over being atop the leaderboard after his first competitive round ever at the historic course.
With talented and hungry players like Colin Montgomerie (2-under), Justin Leonard (2-under), former champion Jose Maria Olazabal (2-under) and defending champion Mark O’Meara (2-under) lurking, Duval and Woods won’t be the only focal points of this tournament.
It’s unlikely a two-man rivalry will ever dominate golf the way Nicklaus-Palmer and Nicklaus-Watson did in the ’60s and ’70s. There are too many good players on Tour these days, their talent magnified by technological advances in equipment.
For Duval and Woods to have a genuine rivalry they must duel head-to-head. They haven’t done that yet and may not this weekend. Yet, this still could be a two-man tournament: But maybe it’s Duval-Love or Love-Montgomerie or Montgomerie-Chamblee. Is that bad for Masters? Of course, not.
Experiencing the unexpected is what the Masters is all about.