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The Masters: Tiger Woods hopes experience will be an advantage at Augusta

Written by on 09/04/2019

Tiger Woods admits he will have to draw on every ounce of experience from his 21 previous Masters appearances if he is to break his 10-year major drought this week.

Woods conceded that he does not have the advantage of extra length over the field that gave him such a huge advantage in his prime, but he does have the benefit of playing Augusta National in all types of conditions – a knowledge that could be a crucial asset with the weather forecast uncertain for all four tournament days.

The 43-year-old also admitted he could not have foreseen failing to increase his tally of major victories when landing his 14th at the US Open in 2008, while he is wary of the need to get off to a strong start on Thursday.

Woods, who remains the last man to win the Masters when placed outside the top 10 after the first round in 2005, said with a huge grin: “I don’t really need to win here again, but I really want to!

“After I won my 14th major, I felt like I still had plenty more major championships that I could win, but unfortunately I just didn’t do it. I put myself there with chances on the back nine on various Sundays and just haven’t done it. I would say I wouldn’t have foreseen that, for sure.

“Hopefully this year, I put myself there again, and hopefully I’ll get it done. Throughout the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge of how to play here under different conditions, and playing practice rounds with guys who have won here a lot, who understand how to play it.

“I’ve got a pretty good little library in my head of how to play the golf course. When I first got here, the par-fives were all reachable with irons, some with short irons. The years I drove it well, longest iron I probably hit into a par-four would probably be an eight‑iron, and I hit a lot of sand wedges.

“I had a lot of success. With short irons it’s easier to be more aggressive and put the ball in better spots and hence I can have better putts and hence I ended up winning some of the Masters championships I won.”

But, asked if he would rather possess length over experience, he added: “Well, I would like to hit it 40, 50 yards past the longest guy out here and I’ll figure it out from there!”

Woods, who reportedly fired a 65 during a practice round at Augusta last week, was also taken by surprise that the last 13 Masters champions were all inside the top 10 following the first 18 holes, while he was seven off the lead after an opening 74 in 2005 before fighting back and beating Chris DiMarco in a play-off.

“I didn’t know that one, that’s a very interesting stat,” he said. “I know that most of the winners have come from the final group, but I didn’t know that one after the first day.

“It’s interesting because I think this is one of the courses you can make up a lot of ground. You can get on one of these hot rounds and make up some shots, like I did in ’05 against Chris.

“I got on a nice little run, made seven birdies in a row and next thing you know, I’m in the lead. I think that’s where this golf course allows you to do that, but you get going the other way pretty quickly, too.

“If you get off to a quick start here, a solid start, it gives you a lot of confidence going forward.”

(c) Sky News 2019: The Masters: Tiger Woods hopes experience will be an advantage at Augusta