AUGUSTA — That figure in Sunday red, the color of at least two of the best three moments in Masters history, surely could not be Tiger Woods.
He possessed the build of a Tiger, ripples of muscle spreading across broad shoulders and chest. That familiar athlete’s physique — not necessarily a golfer’s — V-ing at the waist. And when he took off his cap at the No. 12 tee to acknowledge the loud appreciation of those who love him regardless of, well, everything, he certainly looked like Woods, if only a bit more puffy and middle-aged and considerably more follically challenged.
But the acts of butchery this man had committed on the course this day, and over the entire Masters weekend, bore no resemblance to Woods and the legend he constructed here. In place of spellbinding shot-making there was only an unrelenting struggle. It was the kind of uncomfortable golf creaking old Masters champions used to play here when they were allowed in 20 years past their prime.
No, that wasn’t Tiger Woods. It couldn’t be.
So irrelevant was Woods on Sunday that he finished his round nearly an hour before the leaders teed off. So poorly had he played — his 82 Saturday was his worst round here in 100 trips and his 77 Sunday confirmed that he would finish 60th and last among those who made the Masters cut — that you had to wonder:
As he headed up the steep hill that leads to the 18th green, would this be the last time he’d ask his mangled leg to make the climb?
Or, rather:
Should this be the last time?
The greatest golfer of his generation, arguably behind only Jack Nicklaus as the greatest of all time, certainly owns the right to script his own competitive ending.
But now it is our right to ask ourselves, how much more of this do we have the stomach to watch?
If this is the norm, then please let this be Woods’ last Masters. Only those who take a jealous, perverse pleasure in watching greatness brought down to earth could want more of this.
Just Friday, when Woods stood 1-over par and was being celebrated for making a record 24th straight Masters cut, his fans were thrown a lifeline of hope.
He threw them an anvil this weekend.
Watching Tiger Woods shoot 82 on Saturday was like seeing an aged boxer eating punches for a paycheck. A litany of wince-worthy moments.
More golfing agony followed Sunday, producing scenes at Augusta National so unworthy of a five-time Masters champion.
The triple-bogey on the par 4 5th hole was the lowest of lowlights. Before Woods was done there, he would hit three tee shots: His first deep in the right woods. A second provisional in case the original was lost. Then, after hitching a ride back to the tee on a cart, a third after he had found his ball in the woods but could figure no way to play it from there.
There was the 25-yard chip to the green at No. 3 that didn’t clear the front ridge and rolled back to near his feet.
Or the tee shot to the par-3 6th that weirdly came up 20 yards short of the green.
Or his inability to make hay on the backside par 5s, where he is a career 112-under par. He had to settle for a layup par on the 13th and a bogey on No. 15 after missing the green long on a 108-yard chip.
The highlight of Woods day was a run of eight straight pars — zircons compared to the diamonds he’s fashioned here.
There is little to show that Woods can get much better since ruining his leg in a 2021 car accident. In the last two seasons he’s been basically invisible, withdrawing from last year’s Masters and sitting out the other three majors. Nothing looks so different now. And if there’s no hint of improvement, what’s the use?
If he could accept the role of ceremonial golfer, of being a roving ambassador for the game, then watching days like Saturday and Sunday wouldn’t be so painful. You’d know his pride wasn’t invested in the outcome. But he doesn’t allow that. He insists we see him still as a real competitive threat.
So Woods leaves the course Sunday tilting at the windmills of the year’s three other majors. His plans for next month’s PGA Championship? “Just keep lifting, keep the motor going, keep the body moving, keep getting stronger, keep progressing,” Woods said. “Hopefully the practice sessions will keep getting longer.”
More than any event, the Masters has shaped Woods’ legacy. This is where he won the first of his 15 major championships, announcing himself with a smashing 12-stroke victory in 1997. This is where he won his last, pushing his broken body to a win in 2019.
And, today, this is the place where it is fitting to wonder just how much more we want to see of him in this condition.
If this is all he has left, then the answer is: No more.
