He Knows His Way Around Augusta : Long-Hitting Woods, 20, Won’t Get Lost on Second Visit to the Masters

Tiger Woods is 20, which means there are flagsticks older than he is at Augusta National. But age probably isn’t as important as a few other issues for Tiger here at the Masters.

For instance, is Woods going to stay in school at Stanford or will he turn pro and start studying economics for real?

When the Masters starts Thursday, is Woods going to play the dogleg left ninth hole the way he did in practice when he drove left over some magnolia trees and onto the first fairway for a shorter approach to the green?

Can Woods actually win this thing?

Greg Norman thinks it’s possible.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Norman, who played practice rounds with Woods on Monday and Tuesday.

“He’s gotten better. He’s got his iron play more under control. He’s exceptionally longer. I think he’s longer than John Daly. He flights a ball so good, and that’s going to be nothing but a positive for him, whether he stays at it or turns professional.”

There aren’t too many subjects Woods likes less than the one about his pro prospects. It’s not a topic of conversation Woods is likely to avoid any time soon, though.

One reason is that Woods keeps saying he’s staying and his father keeps saying he might leave. Earl Woods said the NCAA, which has kept close tabs on Woods for his two years at Stanford, could frustrate Woods enough to leave school.

Neither of Woods’ parents is insisting that he remain in school.

The NCAA suspended Woods for one day in 1995 after Arnold Palmer bought him dinner, then reinstated him when it was ruled an inadvertent infraction. The incident didn’t go over too well in the Woods household.

Earl Woods said he isn’t concerned with the NCAA.

“You can’t worry about Jell-O bureaucrats like that,” he said. “You can’t win.”

Tiger said he doesn’t read what is written about him, but he’s weary of the subject of his future.

“The most annoying part is just trying to answer the questions over and over and over again,” he said. “The answer is still the same.

“You see all the money that’s available out there. I see, where am I going to play? I’m not exempt, I have no security. So if I turn pro and I don’t make it out here, where am I going to go? Nike? Hooters? Asia? Australia?”

This week, he’s got Augusta National, which isn’t bad. Woods made it into the 93-player field as the U.S. Amateur champion, the same way he got in last year when he played the Masters for the first time.

Woods shot a five-over par 293 and finished in a tie for 41st. It was a Masters debut noteworthy for how far he hit his drives and how far he missed the greens with his irons.

Woods led the driving statistics, averaging 311 yards. He even hit a nine-iron to the green on his second shot at the par-five 15th.

But as far as Woods hit it, he also had trouble controlling his irons and flew enough greens to get a pilot’s license.

Woods said he’s doing a lot better job with his irons on his second trip to Augusta National.

“I’m controlling my distances a lot better,” he said.

Woods also is controlling the direction better. It was Norman who urged him to take a shorter route to the green at No. 9 in the practice round by knocking it over the trees and onto a flat area on the first fairway.

“I hit down No. 1 over a magnolia tree to see if he was good enough to get it up and over it,” Norman said. “And he did. It was just a fun deal.”

A not-so-fun deal is the fact that no amateur has won the Masters. Ken Venturi finished second to Jackie Burke Jr. in 1956 and that’s the best an amateur has done.

Woods said he is used to “all the hysteria” now, even though he still has trouble finding a place to eat. He said he considers himself a veteran of Augusta National, sort of.

“Overall, I know what to expect now after one year’s experience,” he said. “That has helped.”

And there’s something else too.

“I’m pleased to say I haven’t got lost in the clubhouse like I did last year.”