Augusta Diary: Tiger Woods has the power

Through the years, Tiger Woods has offered us a number of reasons why his final round wardrobe always features a red polo shirt.

There’s the story that it has to do with his mother, Tida. “I always wear red on Sundays because my mom thinks that that’s my power colour, and you know you should always listen to your mom.”

Then, there’s the school connection. “I’ve worn red since my college days, basically, or junior golf days; big events on the last day. I just stuck with it out of superstition, and it worked. I just happened to choose a school that actually was red, and we wore red on our final day of events. It worked out.”

Whether it has to do with being a power colour or superstition, Woods's choice of red polo shirts – actively marketed by clothing sponsor Nike as he ruled the fairways in claiming 14 Major titles through his career – also acted a spur for others, among them Patrick Reed, whose own quest for a breakthrough Major continues to elude him with a best-place finish of tied-second behind Justin Thomas in last year's US PGA.

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Reed, though, was influenced by Woods in his own choice of clothing. “The best player ever to live when I was growing up wore black pants, a red shirt . . . . I was growing up watching him, and I always thought, ‘you know, it would be cool to wear black and red on Sunday.”

With Reed – current world number 24 – making his impact on tour at a time when Woods was troubled by injuries, their paths have yet to cross when a tournament enters its melting pot. Although Reed described the prospect as an “awesome” one, adding: “I would love to be in a group late on Sunday with him so I can wear red and black again, and then we’ll just have a battle to see who plays best.”

Others have found themselves on the receiving end in past incidents of clashing wardrobes, most notably Luke Donald who was paired with Woods in the final pairing of the 2006 US PGA. Donald's choice of clothing had been pre-determined and, when paired with Woods, he felt changing colours would give his main challenger an edge before they even teed off. It didn't matter: Woods shot a 68 to Donald's final round 74.

Garcia’s rattlesnake encounter

Sergio Garcia finally got his hands on a Major title last year when he won the Masters, a victory that enabled him to wear the green jacket to his wedding later in the summer to Angela Akins.

But the Spaniard has only now divulged that he might never have made it down Magnolia Lane after an encounter with a rattlesnake in the build-up to last year’s Masters.

Garcia and his father Victor were introduced to the joys of hunting for wild boars by his then future father-in-law Marty and were walking through tall grass on the Atkins ranch in Texas when the golfer – armed with a .30-30 Winchester rifle – saw something move in front of him.

Marty had put his foot on a rattlesnake, jumped away and told Garcia to “Shoot him!” But Garcia hesitated, and instead Akins took the gun from him and shot the snake in half. “Obviously we were wearing snake boots and everything, but you never know ....if I step on it and it bites me, maybe I’m not even playing in Augusta. So I guess it was one of those things that was meant to be.”

Eight days later, Garcia – after a play-off win over Justin Rose – was having the green jacket slipped on his shoulders by Danny Willett.

Word of Mouth

"Pretty bummed right now. I know I can win out here (on the PGA Tour) and I know it's just a matter of time" – American Beau Hossler after losing out to Ian Poulter in a play-off for the Houston Open. The win gave Poulter the final golden ticket to the Masters.

By the Numbers

1/2008: Rory McIlroy is the lone Irish golfer in the field for the Masters tournament. The last time that happened was in 2008, when Pádraig Harrington – who’d won his breakthrough Major title in the British Open at Carnoustie the previous year – was a lone raider. In the interim, Irish golf has had multiple contestants: 2009 (3), 2010 (3), 2011 (4), 2012 (4), 2013 (4), 2014 (3), 2015 (5), 2016 (4) and 2017 (2).

In the Bag

Ian Poulter, Houston Open winner

Driver - Titleist 917D2 (9.5 degrees)

3-wood - Titleist 917F2 (16.5 degrees)

Hybrid - Titleist 816 H2 (21 degrees)

Irons - Titleist 716 T-MB (4-iron), Titleist 718 AP2 (5-ironn to Pitching Wedge)

Wedges - Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (52 degrees, 56 degrees, 60 degrees)

Putter - Odyssey #7

Ball - Titleist ProV1x

Twitter Twaddle

"What a player @IanJamesPoulter .... what you did on the 72nd hole is just remarkable.. only the best in the game do what you just did... congrats and good luck @TheMasters.." – tour player Pablo Larrazabal tips his sombrero to the Englishman.

"@IanJamesPoulter is back! What a win! This is exactly why I love golf" – Niall Horan – who attended the Drive, Chip, Putt for boys and girls at Augusta National on Sunday in his role as competition ambassador – sings Poulter's praises to his 40 million Twitter followers.

"More nervous than @pernillagolf #parents" – the tweet from the legendary Annika Sorenstam watching the Ana Inspiration play-off, followed by: "Wow! Awesome putt!! Congrats" as Pernilla Lindberg won her maiden Major by holing a 25-footer for birdie to defeat Inbee Park at the eighth play-off hole of the ANA Inspiration.