Woods apologises for Masters antics

Former world No.1 acknowledges his behaviour at Augusta was below par

Man behaving badly: Tiger, pictured above with caddie Joe LaCava, produced frequent outbursts at Augusta

Tiger Woods has used his website to apologise for his petulant behaviour at the Masters last weekend.

Woods, who recorded his worst-ever finish as a professional at Augusta National by finishing tied for 40th, drew strong criticism for a string of outbursts, which included swearing kicking out at one of his clubs after a bad tee shot at the 16th hole in the second round.

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger was amongst those unimpressed by the former world No.1’s antics, labeling him an ’embarrassment to the game’.

Now, seemingly stung by people’s reaction to his antics, Woods has come out and acknowledged he was wrong to behave as he did.

“One thing I would like to say about the Masters last week is that obviously I got frustrated at times and know some of my actions were wrong, especially at No. 16,” said Woods. “The Masters means a lot to me, and I was trying as hard as I could. I’m out there competing. I grind every day, and my expectations are to do my best. It’s very disappointing when that doesn’t happen.

“I felt good starting out the week at Augusta. My practice sessions were good and so was my short game. My putting felt very solid. Unfortunately, I just did not hit the ball well. I fell into some of my old patterns again, which was frustrating. You can’t play well every week, even though we would like to. Unfortunately, I had a bad ball-striking week at the wrong time.

“Oh man, it was such a great atmosphere to play. The people were so fantastic, nice and supportive. They were trying to get me to play well. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t quite get it done. The good news is that my left leg held up great, and I didn’t have any problems.”

Woods, who confirmed that his next outing will be at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow from May 3-6 ahead of the Players Championship a week later, also congratulated new Masters champion Bubba Watson on his victory

Woods said: “We used to play a lot of practice rounds together. If you think about it, for a lefty, that shot on number ten didn’t sit up too badly for him. It was a hook lie, and on top of that, he’s firing it into the hill, because that green goes from right to left. So whatever type of hook he hits is actually going to be killed into the slope.

“The only thing I was curious to see was how far down there he drove it and whether he was going to have to hit a short iron or mid-iron. If he hits a mid-iron in there, he can’t stop it because it’s coming in there too hot. If it’s a short iron, he can spin it even if you hook it that much. He makes the golf ball move a lot, which in this day and age is really hard to do because the golf balls just don’t move that much.

“For him to curve it as much as he does, obviously he’s got a tremendous feel for his shots. He plays a way that a lot of the older players used to do it, but they did it with a ball that moved a lot more. It’s a lot harder to move the ball the way he does with this ball now. The golf ball just doesn’t spin as much. You have to have tremendous club-head speed, and he’s got that.”

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered