tiger almost knocked out by rollins?
Well, if you missed it, Tiger struggled against John Rollins (who was the last seed in the tournament, No. 64th in the world). Tiger trailed most of the round by 1 down (and at one point by 2 down almost on its way to be 3 down). Walking to the par 3 17th, Tiger was 1-down with 2 holes left to play. Who, me, worry?, he must have been thinking.
I saw the end of it, and John Rollins let things slip away. It’s hard to find too much fault with him, though, when his opponent is Tiger Woods. I think any person who’s ranked No. 64 in the world would feel the nerves in trying to close out the No. 1 in the world.
But it still wasn’t pretty watching what happened: Rollins three-whacked (and I mean whacked) the 17th green, forcing himself to concede Tiger’s 2-and-a-half footer for birdie. After their second shots, Rollins and Tiger were both about 98 yards on the par 5 18th. Tiger hit his sand wedge about 25 feet away — yeah, pretty unspectacular. Rollins then took a pitching wedge and tried to 3/4 quarter it but ended up hitting it long into the bunker. By then, Rollins’s nerves looked shot and he chunked his bunker shot onto the fringe. Rollins’s chip had a chance at the cup but missed. Tiger then drained his birdie putt, to take the lead for the first time in the match — no problem.
Well, Tiger does not seem to do well in the first round of most tournaments. In fact, last year at this same tournament, he barely got by 16-seed Carl Petterson (2-1) in the first round. Tiger’s mental strength, however, is incredible. He always seems unflappable. I think even he would admit, though, that he’s going to have to play much better if he plans on defending. The driver going right is becoming a much too-often sight. Where’s Butch?
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