A tough partnership: Playing with Tiger Woods at Augusta has proven difficult

Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union
·2 min read
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Juaquin Niemann (right) shakes hands with Tiger Woods after their round in the 2022 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Juaquin Niemann (right) shakes hands with Tiger Woods after their round in the 2022 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club.
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Professional golfers over the past quarter-century will likely agree that playing with Tiger Woods isn't easy.

First of all, there's the intimidation factor of playing with the best since Jack Nicklaus -- especially when Woods is performing well.

But there's the chaos outside the ropes.

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There are more fans watching. They're cheering or groaning for Woods with more volume. And just try lining up a putt after Woods has finished a hole: fans are rushing to get to the next tee, creating a commotion that an army of marshals find difficult to contain.

The stakes are always higher at the Masters, where Woods has won five times and where he will play for the first time since February next week.

Although the Augusta National galleries are considered among the most behaved and knowledgeable in golf -- they have a strong sense of decorum, when to move and when to not move -- it's still not easy being a playing partner with Woods, especially in the first two rounds.

BetGeorgia.com compiled the scores of Woods' playing partners in 44 early rounds he has played at Augusta. Here are some surprising numbers:

  • Only 12 playing partners with Woods have shot in the 60s, six in each of the first and second rounds. And a third of those have come in Woods' last four starts at Augusta, with Joaquin Niemann the lastest, shooting 69 in last year's opening round.

  • More than double that number, 26 players, have shot 75 or higher when playing with Woods. Thomas Bjorn had the highest score of any Woods playing partner with an 80 in the first round of the 2004 Masters.

  • The average score for Woods' playing partners on the first two days of the Masters is 72.99.

Tee times and groupings will be announced by Augusta National on Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tiger tamed: Playing with Woods in the Masters is a difficult propostion