The denials are emphatic, but the hints are everywhere, as much a part of this Masters landscape as the pine needles.
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, the 20-year-old golf prodigy, will turn pro, and sooner rather than later. He is on schedule to be a junior at Stanford University next autumn, yet there is nothing sophomoric about his game.
Woods missed the cut Friday with a second consecutive 75, but hear us out. His performance and demeanor were even more impressive than last April’s debut, when he shot a respectable 5 over par for 72 holes and tied for 41st place.
Now, only a year later, Woods seems measurably more poised and comfortable. He is no babe in these woods. He looks ready and able. Whether he’s willing, that is the mystery wrapped in a riddle.
“My plans haven’t changed,” Woods says. “I went to college to get an education. That’s most important. And if I’m playing better golf than a year ago, I’m also enjoying the college experience more than a year ago. It’s awesome.”
Tiger has all the right support. His father, Earl, and his mother, Kutilda, stress books over birdies.
Still, Earl is a “junior talent scout” for International Management Group, the Cleveland-based firm that represents dozens of superstar athletes. Tiger can’t hire an agent, but there’s no rule that an agent can’t hire his dad.
“If anybody thinks me being on IMG’s payroll will have an influence on my son’s career,” says Earl, “that is an insult to my entire family.”
However, Earl does admit that if Tiger ever relinquishes his amateur standing before he earns his degree, we might thank nit-pickers at the NCAA. When Arnold Palmer bought Tiger dinner recently, the gumshoes intervened. Tiger mailed Palmer a check for $25, so the NCAA fools backed off and moved on to harass Northwestern’s Darnell Autry.
“Everybody sees the millions of dollars out there that I’m supposed to be turning my back on,” says Tiger. “But what happens if I go pro and don’t do well? I’ll have no place to play. Where am I gonna go? Asia?”
No less a legend than Jack Nicklaus dismisses such apprehensions. He, too, believes that Woods should live life at his pace. But when Tiger thinks it’s time, stand aside.
“There isn’t a flaw in his golf or his makeup,” says Nicklaus. “He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and me combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he’s such a great kid.”
“A nice comment,” replies Woods, who wouldn’t have heard it if Nicklaus didn’t think he could handle it. “I appreciate it very much.”
Greg Norman, with whom Woods has become quite friendly, treads lightly.
“Tiger goes to Stanford, so he’s a lot smarter than me,” says Norman, who leads the Masters after 36 holes. “I wouldn’t know what to advise him if he even asked. But he’ll win his share when his day comes. Will he ever.”
Woods’ agenda is jammed. NCAA Championships. U.S. and British Opens. The U.S. Amateur, where he is twice-defending champion. He will accept a few sponsors exemptions for PGA Tour events–Milwaukee, Canada–but can’t make the Western Open. Should he win a pro tournament as an amateur, he won’t worry about places to play.
He already belongs. This week, Woods utterly compressed Augusta National with his audacious length. For two rounds, at 155 pounds, he led the field with an average driving distance of 342 yards, 40 more than John Daly. But Woods took 65 putts, far too many.
“Conditions were 10 times tougher than last year,” he says. “These greens, it’s like trying to putt a ball on a pool table. I’d love to stay, but it’s back to school. I’ve got a term paper due on Wednesday. Economics.”
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