THEY were following good ol Tom and the Tiger. Thousands of them. But an Augusta veteran wasn't all that impressed. ,"You think this is bad," he said of the milling throng. "You should a been here 30 years ago when we were chasing Arnold around. Now they were real crowds."

Still, the gallery was a little too big for my liking, given that the so called working press are afforded no concessions on Augusta's fairways. The situation a reflected the enduring appeal of twice former Masters champion

Tom Watson and his hugely gifted young playing partner, Eldrick "Tiger" Woods.

That Watson actually turned "up was something of a mental triumph, given his torment on the 16th on Thursday when he fiveputted - yes, five putted - from 69 feet: As the ball rolled back to him, his second putt became almost as long as the first; the next was from 40 feet; the fourth from four feet and the final, successful effort from two feet.

Having completed a depressing round of 75, Watson knew he wasn't going to challenge seriously for the title this weekend. But be had a proud record to protect in that he had never missed a cut here since first competing as a professional in 1975 - 21 in a row. Nobody cares to remember that he failed to survive four rounds on his debut as an amateur in 1970.

Woods, meanwhile, had a heavy burden to bear, having been praised lavishly by no less a figure than Jack Nicklaus earlier this week. "He'll be favourite here for the next 20 years, or there's something wrong." The 20 year old showed few signs of that stunning potential, however, in an opening round of 75. And his position continued to deteriorate in Watson's company.

From the youngster's first drive yesterday, however, it was easy to recognise the "serious shoulder speed" that Nick Faldo had referred to last year. Into a fresh breeze, he smashed the ball 300 yards, almost 50 yards beyond the cavernous fairway bunker that most competitors were trying desperately to avoid.

But it was to be an unhappy day for Tiger. Mind you, he couldn't blame the attention he was receiving "I have been interactive with the media since I was three years old." The fact was that his game was badly out of sorts on an occasion when hem badly wanted to impress.

After incurring a penalty drop for hooking into trees at the long second, he had to play an exquisite chip and run over a greenside trap to two feet from the flag to save par. But he dropped a stroke at the next where a recovery chip from off the back of the green was not so precise. Nor was there any joy for him at the seventh where an ill judged approach came up short, into one of the huge, front bunkers.

But the most revealing hole of all, in terms of assessing the Woods approach, was the 435 yard ninth. There, with the breeze helping, he hit his drive to within 75 yards of the green, making it an enormous effort of 360 yards. Having established an advantage of 35 yards over Watson, one awaited with interest how this would be reflected in their scores at the hole.

It soon became clear that Woods didn't have a club in his bag which could deliver a full shot to the pin. In fact the ball finished 45 feet past the target, on the upper tier, from where he had the most treacherous of putts back down to the hole. His success in easing the ball to within four feet, so securing his par, was a triumph for touch over judgement.

Watson, meanwhile, eased a hazardous 10 footer across the slope and into the hole for a splendid birdie three. So, some of Thursday's damage had already been repaired in an outward journey of 34, which also included birdies at the long second and, long eighth.

Watching Watson on the greens, it was easy to understand how he could believe that there was still a future for him in an orthodox putting method. He sank a 15 footer at the second; an ugly three footer for par at the third; a four footer at the fourth a saving 10 footer at the sixth and an impressive birdie effort of five feet at the eighth.

But this was only the second round. Generally, problems don't arise for him until the final day, as we saw in a closing 73 when he, was third behind Ian Woosnam in, 1991, and in the 75 and 74 he had in 1993 and 1994, respectively. More recently, there was a final round of 74 which pushed him into runner up position in the New Orleans Open. And he carded the same number in the closing round at Bay Hill.

As it happened, there was to be no lifeline for Woods after an outward 38 which eventually became a second successive 75 for 150, comfortably outside the cut. Watson, meanwhile, looked set for survival when he stood level par for the tournament with four holes to play. But the finish killed him. Bogeys at the 15th, 17th and 18th brought him home in 38 for a round of 72 and a total of three over.

The faithful crowds remained with him to the finish, perhaps sensing they were witnessing a little bit of history, albeit in a negative sense. And all the while, they would have wondered just when the Tiger that Nicklaus spoke so glowingly about, would be ready to don the mantle of greatness.