AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National is the kind of place where throwing it back to a bygone era isn’t just commonplace, it’s expected.
It’s no wonder, then, that whenever the magnolias bloom, Tiger Woods seems to be part of the ongoing conversation. This year remains no different despite, well, everything.
Woods is every bit of 47 years old. He admitted Tuesday his game is better than it was a year ago – same goes for his endurance – but he aches way more. He’s stubborn, he said with a laugh, which is why he’s always been able to come back from injuries that would have befallen plenty of lesser men.
He was just 14 months removed from a horrific car crash that nearly claimed his leg (“I’m very lucky to have this leg. It’s mine”) when he came to Augusta National in 2022 and shot 71-74 to make the cut. Although he always comes to the Masters to try to win, he said getting to the weekend was a small victory in itself.
“I still would have liked to have gotten the ‘W,’ but I didn’t, but I think I got my own smaller version of that, to be able to come back and just be able to play,” said Woods.
Woods talks mostly these days about how joy from golf comes from the collection of moments he wracks up with his son, Charlie. The pair are doing exactly what Woods did with his father growing up. The late-night putting contests and the games and the trash-talk lets him feel normal, almost.
“The joy is different now,” said Woods. “I’ve been able to spend more time with my son and we’ve been able to create our own memories out there.
“It’s incredible – the bonding and the moments that come because of this sport. I’m not able to compete and play as many tournaments or do the things I’ve been able to do over the years but … to be able to still share this game and share some memories and create new memories with my son and pass on the things I’ve learned has been (fantastic).”
In 2023, Woods doesn’t even mind sharing knowledge about this golf course with the younger generation of PGA Tour stars.
Two decades ago, he wanted to beat everyone’s brains out – still does, probably (he was noncommittal when asked if he thought Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas or Tom Kim – the trio of younger guys he played practice rounds with – considered him a threat this week), but there’s been a transition from asking how to play Augusta National to now being asked how to do it.
That, he said, is why he keeps having success here. He’s had so many shots and so many moments at Augusta National that even when he’s at home, he can re-create what this course demands and put in a solid preparatory effort for the first major of the year.
“Obviously, with the accident, it’s been a tough, tough road and again, it’s the appreciation of being able to play this game … and to come here and play at Augusta National, it’s such a special place and it means so much to be in my heart,” said Woods. “So much of my life has been here at Augusta National and I’m just so excited to be back here again.”
But what can we really expect from Woods this week?
Augusta National has only 18 flat lies, and those are all when you put a tee in the ground. It’s a long slog of a walk. “It’s ultra-hilly,” Canadian and Masters first-timer Adam Svensson said. Woods is being held together by a lot of hardware.
“The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same,” Woods admitted.
That will be the lone thing to challenge Woods this week. Can he really do this walk? Can he hang in there for 72 holes, especially when the high temperature on Saturday is going to be a mere 11 degrees Celsius?
“If he didn’t have to walk up these hills and have all of that, I’d say he’d be one of the favourites,” said McIlroy. “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.”
Just as a beer at 9 a.m. and a pimento cheese sandwich in the golden afternoon sunshine hits completely and utterly different at Augusta National, so too does the hope around Tiger Woods.
“If there’s any one golf course that I can come back,” said Woods, “it’s here.”
