Putting is the key to real show by Woods

AS a not so callow youth, Tiger Woods played a practice round with Nick Faldo prior to last year's US Masters. Inevitably, it threw them into fairly close physical contact, particularly when they were hitting three balls to most of the treacherous greens. Yet, according to Woods: "He didn't say a word to me for the entire 18 holes."

Absolutely nothing was said. Well, not quite. Woods conceded that "when we putted out on the last hole, Nick said `I enjoyed playing with you'."

Faldo doesn't have any problem with the emergence of Woods as a threat to the dominance of the game's more established practitioners. Which probably explains why, unlike many of his colleagues, the Englishman is not ready to lavish superlatives on him.

When asked yesterday if he felt Woods could win this week, the Englishman gave the question dude consideration. "It's not impossible," he replied. "But there's a discipline you get from playing Augusta National, when to hit the ball and when not. When to make that par and walk. I suspect Tiger has yet to acquire the necessary experience."

In fact Woods will be making his professional debut in a major championship here tomorrow. And as a rather impressive warmup he shot a 59 in practice with Mark O'Meara in Florida last week. "Starting on the back nine I played my first 10 holes in 10 under par," he said.

All of which contrasts sharply with his two Augusta appearances as an amateur. He failed to break par on his debut in 1995 when finishing in a tie for 41st behind Ben Crenshaw and he missed the cut last year.

"It will be interesting to see how Tiger copes this time around," added Faldo. "Winning the Mercedes Championship (which Woods did in January) was a fantastic way to kick off the season but there has been so much hype. I fear he won't be allowed to make any mistakes and that will be tough, because we all make 'em."

Modern communications mean that no emerging player in the history of the game has received such media exposure as Woods. It started in earnest at this event last year, when the great Jack Nicklaus proclaimed: "Both Arnold (Palmer) and I agree that you could take my six Masters and his four and add them together and this kid should win more than that."

That is a forbidding burden for any player to carry, yet Nicklaus wouldn't see it that way. His attitude is that if a competitor has aspirations towards being the best, he must publicly nail his colours to the mast. "It would be a problem to most players but Tiger has been under the microscope since he was four," said Faldo, modifying an earlier view.

In fact he was only two when he appeared on the "Mike Douglas Show", putting with Bob Hope. And he is reputed to have shot 48 for nine holes at the age of three. As a five-year-old he was on "That's Incredible" and from ages six to 13, there were regular appearances on all of the major US television networks.

An inescapable golfing truism, however, is that whatever the quality of the approach play, the ball must still be got into the hole. So it was that when observers were marvelling earlier this year at Woods's all-round game, particularly his astonishing power, Faldo mused: "Let's see what happens when he starts missing a few putts."

It's already happening. Which goes a long way towards explaining why the 21-year-old has been tied 20th, tied ninth and tied 31st in his last three US tournaments.

As the defending champion and winner of the title on three occasions, Faldo is eminently qualified to talk about putting at Augusta. "The number one thing here, is that you have to putt well-to-great to win," he said. "Anything less won't do."

With typical thoroughness, he came to that conclusion after analysing recent winning performances in the Masters. In the process, he discovered that the champions of the last three years had a cumulative total of only one three-putt.

Jose-Maria Olazabal didn't three-putt at all, when he captured the title in 1994. Less surprising was the fact that the 1995 winner, Ben Crenshaw of the silken touch, didn't do so either. And Faldo faltered with the blade only once last year.

"Having looked up the figures, I noticed that almost every Masters winner in recent years was in the top-six of the putting statistics," Faldo went on.

Acutely aware of his own frailty with the blade in recent weeks - he headed the greens-in-regulation category at the Players' Championship, yet finished tied 24th - Faldo embarked on a course of remedial treatment. Again with classic thoroughness, he got the grounds staff at Lake Nona, close to where he lives in Orlando, toe shave the putting green down to Augusta speed

Faldo has never made any secret of his belief in the importance of the major championships. "I think they are an unofficial yardstick," he said. "For instance, you ask a player like Nicklaus how many tournaments he's won and he probably couldn't think of the answer.

"But ask about the number of majors he's won and everybody knows." Then he added with the hint of a smile: "Fourteen, wasn't it?" In fact Nicklaus has 18 professional "majors" to his credit: 20 if you happen to count his two US Amateur wins.

With that, Faldo returned to the key subject of the moment putting. So, only those in the top-six of the current USPGA Tour putting statistics can be considered to have a serious chance of success next Sunday.

Who then are these super six? They are, in order: Don Pooley, Lee Janzen, Mark O'Meara, Brad Faxon, Mark Wiebe and John Huston. No Faldo. No Tiger Woods. But the Englishman is in the process of remedying the problem. And Tiger? He has three majors to his credit - if you happen to count his three US Amateur triumphs.