Tiger Woods never considered disqualifying himself from the 2013 Masters. (USATSI)More Golf: Masters | Leaderboard | Rankings | Expert Picks | Equipment | FedEx Cup
Tiger Woods was the subject of intense scrutiny on Saturday morning after a controversial drop on the 15th hole at the 2013 Masters on Friday led to a two-stroke penalty. Some folks believed he should have disqualified himself from the tournament. I always believed that notion was ridiculous.
And it never crossed Woods' mind, either. He told CBS Sports' Bill Macatee after his round that he didn't consider disqualifying himself.
"No, because under the rules of golf, I'm abiding by the rules," Woods said. "They made the determination that nothing had happened yesterday. So after what I said, things had changed, they called me in this morning and I got a two-shot penalty and it's time to play."
Woods said he wasn't aware of the issue until Saturday morning, when his agent, Mark Steinberg, sent him a text saying "Call me."
"This morning. I got a text from Steiny. It said 'call me.' That's never a good thing when it happens," Woods said, laughing. "I called him up and was explaining the situation, and I called [Masters competition committee chairman] Fred [Ridley] and he said come on in and let's talk about it and look at it, and we did."
The penalty ended up being extremely costly for Woods. He'll find himself probably four strokes back of the leaders when Sunday's Masters action begins. Avoiding the penalty would've kept him a lot closer, but he doesn't think it was unfair.
"Absolutely. I made a mistake," Woods said when asked if he thought it was fair. "Under the rules of golf, I took an improper drop and I got the penalty."
Woods shot a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday that leaves him at 3 under for the tournament and four shots behind the leaders. He gained a bit of redemption on No. 15, too. He hit a beautiful second shot into the green, setting himself up for an eagle.
He just missed the putt but still managed a birdie, one of many shots that will keep him in contention heading into the final day. One that, if it's anything like Saturday, should provide plenty of drama.