Tiger Woods is not in the lead at the Masters at Augusta National heading into the final day, but the number one ranked golfer in the world is first in media attention after dealing with a drop controversy on Friday that ended up costing him two strokes, but at first could have been a lot worse after a possible disqualification.
On Saturday Woods woke up to the news about his two stroke penalty and was able to recover to have a solid round to remain in contention heading into the final day of play on Sunday. Woods is just four strokes back of the leaders in Angel Cabrera and Brandt Snedeker and while he is tied with a number of players at four back, it could have been much worse for Woods, as he could be home instead of playing if not for a new rule that allowed his penalty instead of a disqualification.
Woods said that he felt he remained in contention and admitted that he made a mistake and that he never thought about withdrawing from the tournament. The issues occurred on the 15th hole after he hit a near perfect shot off the flag and into the water, forcing him to take a drop, which he admitted later was wrong. Since officials did not assess the stroke and Woods did not know about the issue, they decided to not disqualify him for signing his scorecard. He finished with a 71 that day and many golfers came out on his side after all the information about the issue was revealed.
Jason Day was leading heading into Saturday, but Cabrera and Snedeker stormed ahead with some excellent play. Adam Scott is also in play after his two major meltdowns and he remains in striking distance on Sunday with a number of players, as well as the Australians Day and Marc Leishman, who have made themselves comfortable at the top of the leaderboard all tournament.
On the first day of the tournament Woods added a par on the 15th hole that easily could have been a birdie and after tying for 40th last year, he is off to a much better start. Woods has won his past two starts at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and he is trying to win for the fourth time this season and the seventh time in 13 months. The win in Florida gave him the number one ranking from Rory McIlroy, who was off to a solid start early on Thursday.
McIlroy has struggled since making the switch to Nike clubs and this season he missed a number of cuts and also quit at the Honda Classic, citing tooth pain. His play in Texas has given him something positive to look at and a win at Augusta would erase anything from the past couple months. Defending champion Bubba Watson and Woods will be on the prowl, but after McIlroy stormed back to finish two strokes being in Texas, he is feeling confident again.
McIlroy first played the course in 2009 and he will also participate in Wednesday's Par-3 Contest with his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, who will serve as his caddy. The continues through the weekend at Augusta and the winner will get around $1,440,000, which is what Watson received last year.
