Why is Tiger No.1?.. Think about it

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This article was published 14/11/2009 (6153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Tiger Woods had a stiff breeze at his back as he stood on the 13th tee, his hand resting on the cover of his driver as he contemplated how to navigate the 354 yards to the green.

With his brawn, Woods could hit driver close to the green, maybe onto the putting surface, for an easy bird­ie.

He chose to use his brain.

Woods pulled out the 3-iron and hit another ball down the middle of the fairway. It’s a shot the fans have been used to seeing over the first two days of the Australian Masters, where the world’s No. 1 player has opened with rounds of 66-68 to build a three-shot lead.

Why not go for it? The pin was on the front half of the green, and Woods knew it would be a difficult pitch.

"If the pin was in the back part of the green, I would have probably hit driver and gotten it down there, be­cause then you have the entire green to pitch up," he said.

He hit wedge to about eight feet and missed the putt. On the same hole, Rod Pampling hit driver to about 40 yards short of the green and pitched the ball through the green and into the back bunker. He had to scramble for par. That was all the evidence Woods needed that he made the right choice.

Such are the holes that make Woods enjoy a track like Kingston Heath, which had 7,059 yards is the shortest he has played all year. He has won at Torrey Pines and Firestone more than any other courses in the world, and both are considered beasts.

Kingston Heath is for managing the game, not mashing the ball.

"I think it’s great," Woods said. "I’ve certainly always enjoyed playing golf courses where you have to think and plod your way along. As I said earlier, you don’t need a golf course of 7,500 yards for it to be difficult. With some of the angles you have out here, you can hit a lot of drivers and 3-woods and get the ball down there, but there’s a price.

"If you miss the ball on the wrong side, it’s going to run into bushes or bunkers where it’s unplayable," he said. "If you do lay it back, then you have pretty tough iron shots. There’s plenty of options out there. You just have to pick one and go with it."

It has been reminiscent of Royal Liverpool, where Woods chose to hit driver only once over 72 holes on his way to victory in the 2006 British Open. And it is not unlike Muirfield Village this year, where the fairways were fast under hot weather, and Woods only occasionally hit driver off the tee and rallied for a four-shot vic­tory.

He has hit driver five times each round at Kingston Heath, only when necessary — either into the wind on a long par 4, or a par 5 where bunkers can’t be reached, or on the ninth when he can take the fairway bunkers out of play.

That’s what he did Friday, and while he missed three birdie putts inside 10 feet and twice had to hole tough putts for par, he doesn’t look as though he’s about to give anyone much help.

Woods was at 10-under 134 and in the final group with Jason Dufner, the unheralded American who shot 67 and was three shots behind along with Greg Chalmers (69) and James Nitties (71) of Australia.

Woods was asked where Kingston Heath would rate if it were in Amer­ica and received more publicity.

"It would be hard to get it to stay this dry in America," he said. "Because in America, they think green is perfect conditions for a golf course."

— The Associated Press