Zoeller's round with Tiger anything but warm, fuzzy Saturday, April 11, 1998
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- They were careful not to complicate things with any witty repartee. What is the expression? With good friends, it has all been said.
Fuzzy Zoeller and Tiger Woods wait to tee off on the fourth hole.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
Fuzzy Zoeller and Tiger Woods played golf together at the Masters on Friday. They shook hands on the first tee, then avoided each other like the taxman.
We might have known things wouldn't be jolly when Scott Hoch showed up on the practice green minutes before Fuzzy and Tiger were to tee off. Woods and Zoeller milled around the green, practicing their putting and their mutual indifference.
"Fuzzy, who's refereeing out there today?" Hoch asked.
Legitimate question.
What a devilishly good coincidence, this pairing. When they talk about "Masters drama," they mean the back nine on Sunday. This was a bonus.
It was a great grouping, for fans, media, psychologists, sociologists and other students of the human condition, and for anyone else with a keen interest in golf and potential train wrecks.
A year ago, after Woods blitzed the field to win this tournament, Zoeller said . . . OK, you know what he said.
Since, Zoeller has apologized to Woods and paid more for his crime than was necessary. Woods has accepted the apology. Kind of. As recently as Sunday night, Tiger's take on it was, "I'll forgive, but I won't forget."
They played together Friday for the first time. That the sociology turned out to be better than the golf didn't seem to matter. Zoeller, who can be animated and yakky on the golf course to anyone and everyone, was animated and yakky to anyone and everyone but Woods.
Woods initiates a handshake after their round.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
Woods, whose focus extends to his caddie and his golf ball, was equally chatty with Zoeller. Together, they didn't make one good syllable.
"It was lovely. Wonderful," Zoeller said afterward, as he zipped from the scorer's tent to the safety of the champions locker room in the clubhouse. Woods "is a person, just like everybody else."
"You guys make it a big deal," Zoeller decided.
Come on, Fuz. You made it that way by what you said (repeated, by the way, in so many words a week later) and by continuing to refuse to discuss it. The sad thing is, Zoeller is one of golf's good guys, more capable than anyone out here of burying the issue with good humor and mutual respect.
The irony is, the man who has made a career of taking the starch out of golf's shirt suddenly finds himself a victim of the uptight times in which we live. He isn't doing himself any favors by stonewalling the traditionally fawning golf press that he used to own. The beleaguered jokester has treated the press the way the wind has treated golf balls, i.e. a major blow-off.
This grumpy Fuzzy, we don't know.
Anyway, it was an interesting psychological test, made more so by Colin Montgomerie's presence in the threesome. Montgomerie, the red-headed Brit, chose this day last year to wonder if Woods could withstand the Masters weekend pressure. Monty is glib and occasionally lacking in tact. Just like Zoeller.
So whose head would hold up best?
Woods played even par. Four birdies, four bogeys, a nice, par-saving putt on 18. It's a different Tiger we're seeing this year, forced by the windy conditions, but also prodded by a grit and maturity not seen before. Woods is grinding, like the rest of the working stiffs out there.
Considering he is only 22 and has lived a lifetime in the past 12 months, Tiger has maintained a head you could shoot pool from. Zoeller stumbled at 10 and 11, making bogey and double, but rallied with birdies at 13 and 16 to finish two-over par for the round. "The only problem was it took five hours and 15 minutes to play," he said.
Maybe so. But you can't help thinking everyone would be happier if Fuzzy went back to being Fuzzy. Zoeller included.
Complete Masters coverage from Associated Press
DAUGHERTY ARCHIVEEnquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.
