Armour: Tiger Woods lets his game speak for itself
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods didn't have much to say to Sergio Garcia.
Didn't need to. His scorecard was a far more effective smackdown than any trash talk or snarky comment.
While Garcia was extending his oh-fer streak in yet another major Saturday, Woods was erasing any last doubts that he'll soon be back at the top of the game. His 4-under 68 matched his lowest score since the back surgery 13 months ago that kept him out of last year's Masters, and moved him into a tie for fifth.
Gave him back-to-back rounds in the 60s at Augusta National for the first time since he won in 2005, too. Oh, it's also the first time Woods has broken 70 on the weekend at a major since 2011.
And it could have — should have — been even better. Woods missed short birdie putts on Nos. 6 and 7, and bogeyed 14 when he left his par putt short.
"It could have been something seriously low today," Woods said. "I had it really going."
As if anyone should have been surprised.
Woods has a long memory for slights, real and imagined, and there's a laundry list to be pinned on Garcia. The cheeky "bring it on" glance at the 1999 PGA Championship. The rant about the rain at the 2002 U.S. Open and how the USGA never would have made Woods play in such conditions. The Ryder Cup taunts.
And, of course, the big tiff in 2013. Garcia accused Woods of distracting him during a shot at The Players Championship, a claim Woods denied. The sniping escalated after Garcia made a racist joke at Woods' expense.
Garcia apologized, publicly and privately, but Woods would have none of it.
"Everybody makes a bigger deal than it is for both of us," Garcia insisted Saturday afternoon. "I think we're both fine."
Uh-huh. That's why Garcia took to Twitter not once, but twice, to try and defuse the tension before their round Saturday, the first time they've been paired together since 2013.
"It was gonna happen at some point sooner or later! Paired with @TigerWoods tomorrow but don't you worry guys, I'm sure we'll both be fine," Garcia Tweeted, ending with a winking smiley face.
Then, a few hours before their round, Garcia had this to say: "@TigerWoods and I might not be best friends but we do respect each other and that respect will stay the same today! Enjoy some good golf."
He may as well have been talking to a wall.
Woods didn't even acknowledge Garcia when he arrived on the putting green five minutes before their tee time. Instead, he dropped two balls on the surface and — knowing full well Garcia was watching — knocked them both in from about 25 feet.
The two did shake hands on the first tee, but Garcia had to initiate it and it was as quick as it was frosty.
From then on, they may as well have been playing on their own. There was little chatting or acknowledgment of good shots — a departure from Friday, when Woods and Jimmy Walker jabbered throughout the entire round. They barely even walked together, Woods striding off as soon as Garcia had hit his shot.
The closest they came to interaction was on No. 3, when Woods' approach shot from about 70 yards lipped out of the cup. As the crowd roared, Garcia laughed as if to say, "That's just not human." When fans continued cheering as Garcia readied to hit, Woods waved his arms to quiet them.
"At the end we talked a little bit. On two or three holes, 17 and a couple others," Garcia said. "… But it was very good. I thought we were both very good. It was the way it should be."
Truth is, Garcia is little more than an annoyance to Woods. But that didn't mean he was going to just let this one go. No, he got the last word as he usually does.
And he never had to say a thing.
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