MASTERSREVIEW
16
Tiger Woods taking that drop shot
It has been suggested that when he dropped the ball at the 15th in the second round that he was cheating . He wasn ' t . Woods openly admitted in his post-round interview that he had dropped it two yards from where he played the original shot . But it is astonishing that a player of his standing should have such little understanding of the rules .
Should he have been disqualified ? Of course he should . But let ' s clear something else up . Nick Faldo said that Tiger should have disqualified himself , but do any of us seriously believe that Faldo would have done so had he been in Tiger ' s position ? Of course he wouldn ' t . It was hardly the player ' s fault that the Augusta committee were too weak to take what should have been the right course of action . And to be fair to Woods , he accepted the two-stroke penalty and set about trying to repair the damage , coming very close to doing so .
It is difficult to know what to make of Day . That the Australian is a gifted player is beyond question , but his pre-shot routine is bonkers . Apparently he has been wearing a device on his head that is supposed to tap in to the left side of his brain because there is some hokum theory that this will help turn him into a more complete golfer . Is it really necessary for him to close his eyes before every shot though ? He is a slow enough player as it is , without adding to a painfully slow pre-shot routine .
We have all read about paralysis by analysis and it is blindingly obvious that there are a million and one thoughts going through Day ' s brain as he attempts to visualise each shot . To make matters worse , he has his coach carrying his bag . There are some who may regard this as an outside aid . And I am one of them .
Then we come to Guan Tian-Lang , the 14-year-old Chinese schoolboy
THEZONE / ISSUE 21