Still trying to get past his big sex scandal, pro golfer Tiger Woods finished at a very disappointing fourth place at the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, GA. Tiger himself was gunning for the top spot and was disappointed he didn’t walk away with the title.
He came back to the Masters to win, not just contend. To him, there was no joy and no relief in tying for fourth in his first tournament in five months, only disappointment and frustration. “That’s not what I wanted,” Woods said Sunday after finishing five strokes behind Phil Mickelson. “I wanted to win this tournament. As the week wore on, I kept hitting the ball worse.”
He had vowed to tone down his emotions, try to smile a little more, acknowledge the fans every now and then. But that even temperament quickly faded as the poor shots piled up. He yelled at himself several times, loud enough for the gallery to hear and the television microphones to pick up. He flipped clubs away in anger. Afterward, Woods got a bit testy when asked if the new Tiger was still a work in progress. “I think people are making way too much of a big deal about this thing,” he said. “I’m not going to be walking there with a lot of pep in my step because I hadn’t hit a good shot yet.”
Woods said he’s not sure when he’ll play again, but the next stop in his comeback figures to be the Quail Hollow Championship, which begins April 29 in Charlotte, N.C. That would give him a tuneup for the Players Championship the following week, considered the biggest event on the PGA Tour outside of the four majors. “I’m going to take a little time off,” is all Woods would say, “and kind of re-evaluate things.”
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