AUGUSTA -- Some of it never changes. The platinum grin. The athletic tape wrapped below the second knuckle of the right long finger. The devotion to Augusta National.
The Tiger Woods who met with the press Tuesday was still all those things and yet somehow less. The surgeries, the wrenching recoveries, the emotional damage of relationships gone bad, his age -- 47, his hairline retreating before our very eyes-- have delivered an ever-diminishing Woods to this Masters. Such is life.
He proved he could win after debilitating back surgery (2020). He proved he could make the cut last year just 14 months after a potentially deadly car wreck. This week, Woods can prove ... what? He can win? Threaten? Remain relevant? Just survive to the weekend?
His remarks as he enters his 25th Masters reflected a five-time champion at ease with what is left of his career. More than ever, he sounded like the Tiger in winter.
“But as I sit here, I’ve said to you guys before, I’m very lucky to have this leg. It’s mine,” he said, referencing the wreck that shattered his ankle and broke his right leg in two places. “Yes, it had been altered and there’s some hardware in there, but it’s still mine. It has been tough and will always be tough. The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same. I understand that.
“That’s why I can’t prepare and play as many tournaments as I like. But that’s my future and that’s okay. I’m okay with that.”
Which may sound like the preamble to becoming an honorary starter. But Woods has defied reality -- medical, psychological, swing speed -- so regularly here that it is hard to find a player who will reject his chances out of hand. The topography is too severe, the weather too gloomy -- rain and cool temperatures are predicted for the weekend -- but his peers can find reasons to believe.
“You know, if he didn’t have to walk up these hills and have all of that, I’d say he’d be one of the favorites,” Rory McIlroy said. “I mean, he’s got all of the shots. It’s just that physical limitation of walking 72 holes, especially on a golf course as hilly as this.
“But again, as we all know, we never count Tiger out and he can do incredible things. But you know, you watch him on the range and you watch him hit chips and putts and he’s got all the aspects of the game that you need to succeed around this place. It’s just the toll it takes on his body to compete over 72 holes.”
That was the greater challenge of last spring, not the state of his game but whether he could just make it around the course for four days. Turned out, he could, if just barely, which may have contributed to a tone of resignation Tuesday. Walking is one thing but Woods did show up just to walk.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play again at that time,” Woods said. “For some reason everything kind of came together and I pushed it a little bit and I was able to make the cut, which was nice.
“Yeah, I don’t know how many more I have in me. So just to be able to appreciate the time that I have here and cherish the memories.”
The math is arduous. When he stunned the game with his 2019 title, he finished at 13 under par, the third-lowest total in his Masters history. While he made the cut last year, he finished at 13 over, the worst of his career. He had never shot anything higher than 77, that coming in his first Masters as a Stanford freshman in 1995. Last spring, he shot 78-78 over the weekend.
Woods said his game is stronger than it was then as is his endurance. While he has played just once this year -- T-45th at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, where he was the host -- he knows Augusta National so well that he has been “rummaging through the data bank” to recreate shots and even lies he will face here while preparing at Medalist Golf Club near his home in Florida.
And if he still talks of winning, that’s because, well, he always has.
“It’s just the overall desire to win has always been there and I’ve always worked at it and believed in what I could do,” he said. “I’ve been stubborn and driven to come back and play at a high level. I think that has shown throughout my career and one of the reasons I was able to ... how many cuts I’ve been able to make in a row (a record 142) and how many tournaments I’ve been able to win (82 PGA Tour events, 15 majors) over the course of my career.
“And that’s just hanging in there and fighting on each and every shot. It means something. Each and every shot means something.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
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