Woods (66) Is Ready for His Close-Up

By THOMAS BONK

April 7, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

AUGUSTA, Ga. —

It was a warm and humid Friday at the Masters, when shirts stuck to backs like wet cellophane. Besides barometric pressure, Augusta National also offers the choking variety, a condition as uncomfortable as gargling with golf balls.

In the second round of the Masters, a familiar element was added to the potent mix of breath-sucking pressure and high-stakes golf.

Tiger Woods, of course.

For anyone wondering what a major championship race would be without Tiger, we won’t have to find out, not after Woods torched the place with a six-under 66 and is so close to Chris DiMarco that Tiger can count the dimples on his ball.

DiMarco heads into the weekend with a two-shot lead over Woods, turning in another sharp round, a 69, to produce a 36-hole score of 134 and a margin that probably would have much more impact if somebody other than Woods was the one right behind.

Let’s not leave Phil Mickelson out, either, although he seemed intent on eliminating himself at the turn. But after a bogey at No. 10 when he missed the green and a double bogey at No. 12 when he didn’t miss the water, Mickelson pulled himself together and posted a 69 to match Woods at eight-under 136.

However, the leader remains DiMarco, whose 36-hole total is the third lowest in Masters history, right behind Raymond Floyd’s 131 in 1976 and Greg Norman’s 132 in 1996.

But we have to be honest here. Do the comparisons yourself . . . Woods, Mickelson, DiMarco. You have to ask, should there be a DiMarco in that group?

“Well, I guess I do [belong] this week,” DiMarco said. “Sure, I mean, why not? They had to get there somehow, right? Maybe this is my week.”

And there’s always the chance the week will belong to Woods once again. One thing is certain, this place is starting to take on a familiar sheen. When Woods won here in 1997, his first two rounds were 70-66, the same scores he has put together this year.

Woods was optimistic, but cautious.

“I’m very pleased at where I am at,” he said. “Eight under par, you can’t really complain.

“You know, to be honest with you, eight under par is just eight under par. In a major championship, that’s not bad. I know that this weekend, obviously, it is going to get a little more dry, a little more firm, get more difficult.

“And it’s nice to be in a position where you don’t have to go out there and have to shoot something low on a difficult golf course.”

It didn’t play so hard Friday. The greens dried out a little more and the ball rolled faster, but the players continued firing away at tucked pins and walking away with much more than they bargained for.

“It was a good day,” said two-time champion Jose Maria Olazabal. “It was warmer, the breeze was not affecting the play, the greens are holding well. I think those are the reasons why the scores are good.”

Of course, the reason Olazabal was so charitable was the 68 he threw at Augusta National.

What’s going on amounts to a full-on assault on the grand old course, which has tilted way too far in the user-friendly direction because of the rain early in the week. The forecast for the weekend doesn’t call for rain, but wind gusts are predicted, which should make for an interesting 36-hole finale.

Currently, what we have at the Masters is a footrace, which means there will be a sprint to the finish. All we need are starting blocks and a pistol. Only one shot behind Woods and Mickelson and three shots shy of DiMarco is a five-man platoon consisting of David Duval, Steve Stricker, Angel Cabrera, Lee Janzen and Toshi Izawa at seven-under 137.

Olazabal, Mark Calcavecchia and Kirk Triplett are one shot beyond that.

The cut at one-over-par 145 matches the Masters record.

Gary Player, who four-putted four times and missed the cut by two shots, warned against taking Augusta National for granted.

“This course is a big mouse trap with a piece of cheese in the middle and it will get you,” he said.

Maybe, but right now, it’s more like Tigerville.

Woods birdied four of the first eight holes, but three-putted the ninth for a bogey. At the 13th, he took off again. Woods hit a seven-iron from 212 yards that went 13 yards too far and into a bunker. But he scooped the ball out to six feet and made the putt for a birdie to get to six under.

Woods two-putted from 30 feet to birdie the 15th, but ran his 20-foot putt about eight feet past the hole on the par-three 16th for a bogey. He finished fast with back-to-back birdies. At the 17th, Woods hit a sand wedge to four feet and made the putt, then hit a driver and a sand wedge to eight feet above the hole at the 18th and made that one too.

At this point, Woods says it’s a good idea not to get too far ahead of himself.

“Come Sunday afternoon, yeah, it will be challenging and it will be fun, if I can get myself in position,” he said.

“But there’s so much more golf to be played, jockeying for position down the stretch, who is going to win. We have so many shots we need to play before that happens.”

Mickelson saved his best shots for last. His second shot at the 18th found a bunker, but he rolled in a 12-footer to save par and complete a challenging round of 69 that could have been much, much worse.

He caught a five-iron flier with his second shot at the 10th that led to a bogey and he made a bad swing with an eight-iron at the 12th and the ball spun off the green into the water, resulting in a double bogey.

But Mickelson birdied the 13th, 15th and 16th to get it back.

“To be tied for second and be only two shots back is a very good position to be in and something I would have taken from the onset of the event,” Mickelson said. “There’s something very special about having an opportunity to win here.”

Meanwhile, there is something unexpected about Duval having a chance to win here, especially since he had a cortisone shot 10 days ago to help his sore wrist.

Duval, who shot 66 to match Woods, Calcavecchia and Izawa for the low round, has played once since the Bob Hope. He wasn’t sure how his wrist would hold up this week.

“Sure, I was curious,” he said. “I guess I didn’t really know what to expect, but at the same time, I knew my golf game was where it needed to be and I knew I was putting extremely well. So, basically, I just had to go out there and get out of my own way.”

We’ll see if anybody gets out of Tiger’s way or whether he will be able to run them down by himself.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LEADERS

CHRIS DiMARCO

65-69--134: -10

PHIL MICKELSON

67-69--136: -8

TIGER WOODS

70-66--136: -8

ANGEL CABRERA

66-71--137: -7

DAVID DUVAL