How Does 59 (Yeah, 59) Sound for a Warmup?

“I understand you had a pretty good round when you played golf with Mark O’Meara last week,” a man inquires here of rich, young Master Tiger Woods.

“Yeah, I took some money off him,” Woods confirms, nonchalantly. “I also played pretty well.”

“Fifty-nine, Tiger?”

“Yeah, 59,” Tiger says.

Yeah, 59. Oh, to be 21 years old and practically shockproof. Yeah, 59. Woods speaks these words offhandedly, like a fisherman explaining that he had just thrown back a pretty nice fish. Yeah, 59. So casual is Tiger Woods, he cannot even recall exactly which day he shot it. But wasn’t it just last Friday? someone else asks, helpfully. “OK, if you say so,” Woods says. “Sounds good to me.”

It happened five days ago on the par-72 Isleworth course in Orlando, an exclusive club that borders O’Meara’s property as well as the mansion of basketball’s Shaquille O’Neal, who moved from Florida to California around the same time Woods was moving the opposite way. O’Meara shot a 70 on his home course. He lost his bet with Woods by 11 strokes.

“Have you done that before?” Woods is asked. “Any 59s anywhere?”

“I do it a lot,” he fibs, “through 12 holes.”

Although he has never broken par at Augusta National, it is unlikely that Eldrick Woods, in this, his third try at the Masters golf tournament (and first as a professional), will have already struck the ball 59 times as he walks to the 13th tee of Amen Corner. At that point, Woods would need to par out to card 84. Tiger won’t shoot 84. Arnold Palmer might. Billy Casper might. But not this prodigy, who is young enough to be their grandson.

Woods will tee off at 1:44 p.m., Eastern time, in the first round Thursday, paired with Nick Faldo, last year’s champion. Faldo once called the Masters a five-year affair, meaning it takes that long for most players to get a feel for the place.

Asked, then, if it’s a tad unfair for Tiger Woods to be included among the favorites this week, Faldo nods and says, “Yes, I think there’s a learning curve of playing Augusta and the discipline [involved], when to hit the ball, when not, when it’s great to just make that par and walk away.”

Perhaps, therefore, it is too soon for Tiger to win this thing?

“Yes, perhaps,” Faldo says, “but not impossible.”

Seve Ballesteros was the youngest to win here. Ballesteros had just turned 23 when he took the 1980 Masters. A year later, he missed the cut.

Woods concedes nothing.

In fact, he wonders, “Was it fair that Fuzzy Zoeller won here on his first try? It can happen.”

The fact that he is not writing term papers or cramming for Stanford exams, while playing golf all day, makes Woods believe that the improbable is possible. He shot 72-72-77-72 at the Masters two years ago, at 19. A couple of 75s got him nowhere last time, after which Tiger watched the dramatic climax on TV, Greg Norman’s fold against Faldo.

“It was very painful to watch because I’ve been in that situation myself,” Woods remembers. “I’ve done the same thing. But, granted, I’ve never done it at the Masters, or in a major. I’ve done it at the amateur level, or junior level. But it was sad. Any player who’s played golf has done that. It’s very sad to see [Norman] go through that, when he deserves to win here.”

Woods practiced here Tuesday with two former champions, Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, heeding their advice. He has tightened his swing, having not had a top-five finish--a slump for him--in his last four PGA tournaments. He also has Peter Jacobsen’s caddie of 19 years, the colorful Mike “Fluff” Cowan, with whom Woods now feels a relationship “like two old friends out there, playing together.”

And, for better or worse, he has his cult following.

They come with flashbulbs that “light up the tee box when I swing.” Many crave 10 minutes of his time, “but there’s only 24 hours in the day.” All this concerns Tiger, in particular a mob scene at a recent tournament at which security broke down, he says, and a child got trampled.

“I’m glad I’m not him,” says O’Meara, one of Woods’ best friends on the tour. “I’m fourth on the all-time money list, but at least I have some privacy.”

A recent national magazine article painted an unflattering portrait of Woods, quoting off-color jokes that Tiger believes were caught by a hidden tape recorder, in what he thought was a private moment. With a worn-out sigh, Woods says, “I look at it this way: Society’s definitely changed. Look back at the most popular man who ever played, Arnold [Palmer]. There was more respect for people’s private life back then.

“Now, you’ve got TV talk shows that, unfortunately, promote dirt. Now, the gloves are off. It’s wide open. For people like Greg, John Daly and myself, they’re just not respectful of our private space, people who would want us to be respectful of theirs. It should be a two-way street, but it’s not.”

Imagine what fame would come to a 21-year-old at a Masters who could shoot a 59.

Woods shot his on an Orlando course that measures nearly 7,200 yards, with a USGA rating of 74.4. He did it despite taking pars on two par-fives.

“I started off on the back nine, parred 10, birdied 11 and 12, eagled 13, and birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and then 1. So I was 10-under through 10, and that’s a 27 on the back nine.

“It was actually pretty easy. It was almost disappointing. You have irons on two par-fives and you walk away with par. Any time you do that, it’s disappointing. I hit some bad shots, yes, but they were only tee shots, so I could salvage them.”

Yeah, salvage a 59.

Almost disappointing.

“Well, you know, sometimes you feel confident and go out there and shoot 80,” Woods says. “And sometimes you can’t find the fairway, but you shoot 65 the rest of the week. It’s weird how it works.”

Of course, 59 isn’t possible on this course?

“You know what?” Master Woods asks back. “Physically, yes, you can do it.”

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Masters at a Glance

* WHEN: Thursday through Sunday

* WHERE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.

* DEFENDING CHAMPION: Nick Faldo

* TV: Thursday: 1 p.m., USA; highlights, 11:35 p.m., Channel 2; Friday: 1 p.m., USA; highlights, 11:35 p.m., Channel 2; Saturday: 12:30 p.m., Channel 2; Sunday: 1 p.m., Channel 2.