{"id":341380,"date":"2011-03-26T22:50:21","date_gmt":"2011-03-26T22:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-03-26T22:50:21","modified_gmt":"2011-03-26T22:50:21","slug":"masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Masters can’t come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The interview room was packed, with green-jacketed Augusta National members
\nlining the back wall to make sure journalists didn\u2019t get too unruly. Tiger Woods<\/a>
\nwas on his way in, finally ready to answer some of the questions about the
\nmystery that surrounded his life.<\/p>\n

None of us in the room that day last April expected to learn much, and Woods
\nwas true to form. He talked vaguely about becoming a better man, danced around
\nquestions about his personal life and offered little about the state of his
\ngame.<\/p>\n

Even the bizarre commercial Nike ran a few days later with his late father
\npresumably speaking to him from above drew just a soulful gaze from an otherwise
\nsilent Woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your
\nfeelings are. And did you learn anything?\u201d Dad asked.<\/p>\n

A year later we\u2019re still trying to figure that out. Woods remains as much of
\nan enigma today as he was in the room that day at Augusta National, preparing
\nfor his return to golf while still grappling with the issues that would
\neventually make him a divorced man.<\/p>\n

There are reports he has a new girlfriend, which stirred up some excitement
\nrecently among the tabloids. But as another Masters looms the talk about his
\npersonal life has largely faded.<\/p>\n

Now we just want to know about his game.<\/p>\n

It was on display Saturday in Florida, where Woods entered the third round
\nof the Arnold Palmer<\/a> Invitational with thoughts of contending after a posting a
\nnifty 68 the day before on a tough golf course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to build toward the first major, and that\u2019s kind of how my
\ngame is,\u201d he said after the round. \u201cIt\u2019s building, and it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopeful words, though nothing we haven\u2019t heard before. Woods has been
\ntalking about his game coming around for months now, even as his winless streak
\nstretches into a second year.<\/p>\n

Then he plays like he did on Saturday, and you wonder if he\u2019ll ever win
\nanother green jacket again.<\/p>\n

Two balls in the water on the back nine. Chunked chips from perfect lies.
\nMisses on short putts, the kind he never missed before.<\/p>\n

It all added up to a fat 74 that once again left Woods no chance of winning
\nin his final tuneup before the Masters. On a course he once dominated, Woods
\nstruggled to hold his place as Bubba Watson<\/a> and some of the game\u2019s rising stars
\ntook dead aim at the flags.<\/p>\n

The Masters is less than two weeks away. And Woods still looks lost.<\/p>\n

Just what is wrong with his game has been debated in press rooms and bars
\nfrom the coast of California to the swamps of Florida. Trying to figure it out
\nis about as easy as trying to figure Woods out, and that\u2019s a task a lot of
\namateur psychologists have failed at.<\/p>\n

He has a good round, then follows it with a stinker. He hits shots like the
\nWoods of old used to hit, then follows them with clunkers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no real pattern to it, which makes it even more perplexing. Woods
\nhimself seems baffled by it all, as if it\u2019s happening to someone else.<\/p>\n

He should be dreading the drive down Magnolia Lane to one of the parking
\nspots reserved for former champions. In a strange way, though, Augusta National
\nmight just be the perfect place to turn it all around.<\/p>\n

He picked it for his coming out party last year and was in contention all
\nweek, despite a balky swing. Every round was under par, and his tie for fourth
\nplace gave no indication of the struggles that were yet to come.<\/p>\n

He knows every blade of grass and every shot he\u2019ll have to play. If he was
\nable perform like he did last year with the circus that surrounded him, he
\nshould be able to put some scores on the board this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are certain golf courses where I feel pretty good and comfortable no
\nmatter how my form is going into it, and Augusta is one of them,\u201d Woods said.
\n\u201cOver the years I\u2019ve won there a few times, but the majority of my finishes
\nhave been pretty high. Golf course fits my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Woods was upset after his round Saturday, he didn\u2019t show it. He was
\npatient with the press, then went and signed autographs for about five minutes.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something the Tiger of old wouldn\u2019t have done and proof he\u2019s at least
\ntrying to live up to his vow of being more respectful to both the game and its
\nfans. He\u2019s still a work in progress but seems more comfortable in his occasional
\ninteractions with fans.<\/p>\n

The new swing is coming around, too. There are more good shots than bad, and
\nnow it\u2019s just a matter of putting them together more consistently.<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, though, he needs to win to get his swagger back.<\/p>\n

For Woods, the Masters couldn\u2019t come at a better time.<\/p>\n

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write
\nto him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Originally posted here:
\nMasters can’t come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The interview room was packed, with green-jacketed Augusta National members lining the back wall to make sure journalists didn\u2019t get too unruly. Tiger Woods was on his way in, finally ready to answer some of the questions about the mystery that surrounded his life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-341380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\nMasters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Masters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The interview room was packed, with green-jacketed Augusta National members lining the back wall to make sure journalists didn\u2019t get too unruly. Tiger Woods was on his way in, finally ready to answer some of the questions about the mystery that surrounded his life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Masters can’t come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-26T22:50:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\"},\"wordCount\":896,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\",\"name\":\"Masters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-26T22:50:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Masters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Masters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"The interview room was packed, with green-jacketed Augusta National members lining the back wall to make sure journalists didn\u2019t get too unruly. Tiger Woods was on his way in, finally ready to answer some of the questions about the mystery that surrounded his life.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Masters can’t come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP)","datePublished":"2011-03-26T22:50:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/"},"wordCount":896,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/","name":"Masters can't come soon enough for Tiger Woods (AP) - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif","datePublished":"2011-03-26T22:50:21+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/26\/masters-cant-come-soon-enough-for-tiger-woods-ap\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/c9c81120i.gif"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}