Playing for second and third, but first may be out of reach

Posted 9:51AM on Monday 15th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Retief Goosen was playing for second. Phil Mickelson was happy with third. Tiger Woods doesn't just beat the world's best. He intimidates them. If any further proof is needed, just listen to those Woods beat on Sunday to win his second straight Masters. "Give him a couple more years and I think Tiger will be even greater than Jack Nicklaus," Goosen said. "It's just a matter of time." That's high praise coming from anyone. But Goosen is a U.S. Open champion who was tied with Woods entering the final round and was supposed to be able to compete with him. He couldn't, and later admitted that he played the back nine without any chance. "After the front nine, I knew it was all over for me," Goosen said. "I just tried really hard for second." Perhaps it was simple math. Woods had won all six major championships he led going into the final round and it wasn't hard to imagine him winning a seventh. Mickelson birdied the first two holes to get close, then promptly bogeyed the next two to blow any chance he had. Maybe he didn't want to go head-to-head with Woods down the stretch at Augusta National again after all. He certainly didn't sound like he relished the opportunity afterward. "He's the only leader that you don't have hope that he'll falter," Mickelson said. Mickelson, who has never won a major, first said he was happy simply to finish third, four shots behind Woods, after beginning the day third, four shots behind Woods. He didn't gain anything, but didn't lose any ground, either. Of course, he didn't win the Masters. "I don't think third place is anything to be overly disappointed about, even though I wanted to win my first major," Mickelson said. That kind of talk comes easy to those chasing Woods these days. They can't figure him out, even while he can't figure them out. "Sometimes we as players try a little too hard at times," Woods said. "Maybe that's the case, I don't know." It certainly seemed to be the case on the back nine as both Ernie Els and Vijay Singh met disaster in Rae's Creek and the pond that fronts the 15th green. Both were trying, perhaps too hard, to make something, anything, happen. "I felt like I was going to go all out today," Els said. "I felt like I was set up for a good charge after 12." It turned out to be a charge in the opposite direction as Els hit trees with his drive on the 13th hole, then hit more trees and ended up in the creek going down the fairway with his second shot. After a penalty, Els dropped and hit it into the creek in front of the green and ended up with an 8. Singh followed by trying to get too fine with his third shot at the 15th and watching it go into the pond. He put another ball down and spun this one back in, too, before settling for a 9. "I wasn't thinking about Tiger. I was trying to play my own game," Singh insisted. Actually, the best golf played on the back nine was by Goosen, who shot a 35 to Woods' 37. But he had given away his chances with a bogey on No. 1 and a front-nine 39 that left him five back at the turn. "You know Tiger isn't going to make any big mistakes," Goosen said. "You know you have to lift your game and start making birdies." Mickelson was a bit more philosophical, as he tried to file his latest disappointment in the proper place. He and his wife, Amy, had gone to see the move "The Rookie" earlier in the week, and he was struck by the fact the main character was happy just to be playing baseball for a living. "Today I thought I was very lucky to be able to play the final round of the Masters here at Augusta, play the back nine and be on the leaderboard and play this game for a living and be very fortunate," Mickelson said. Unfortunately for Mickelson, Woods doesn't think that way. And that's why he has another green jacket.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196042