Tiger Woods’s Oath Burns Under Aching Reality as Unavoidable ‘Challenge’ Hinders Major Dreams

Tiger Woods admitted his body didn’t offer the green signal to his plans of playing one tournament a month. Woods unceremoniously withdrew from the Genesis Invitational due to influenza. But his prolonged absence, dotted with only one day at the Seminole Pro Member, sparked questions about his back problems. Then, Woods conceded that his body took time to heal. Speaking from Augusta, the five-time Masters champion said, “I wasn’t ready to play. My body wasn’t ready. My game wasn’t ready. I thought that when I was at Hero [World Challenge], once a month would be a really nice rhythm.”

Although his protected recovery jeopardized the plans of playing one tournament a month, as he suggested in December, the veteran golfer looks forward to playing more, now that the major season has kicked in. “But now we have major championships every month from here through July. So now the once a month hopefully kicks in,” Woods said with a broad smile.

Woods underwent ankle surgery after withdrawing from last year’s Masters. But the problem now is no longer his ankle, rather, it’s about the load that goes on his back. Also, these knee issues are standing between Tiger Woods and his fifth green jacket. Notably, at Riviera,  his back locked up, which resulted in a shank at the 18th hole.  The former world no. 1 admitted then that he was eventually “going to be rusty.”

At Augusta, Woods divulged further details. “It’s other parts of my body that now have to take the brunt of it. So, yeah, once he put the rods in there, it’s good to go. But, the back, the knee, other parts of the body have to take the load of it, and just the endurance capability of walking a long time and being on my feet for a long time,” he claimed.

Last December, Woods said from Albany that the experience on the course differs vastly from the simulation at home. Even at Augusta, Tiger Woods belabored that point, albeit with his characteristic sarcasm. “These [Long walk and playing on Hillside] are things that I can’t simulate in Florida. We’re pretty flat. So I try the best I can on certain hillsides back at home to hit shots,” he said.

For Woods, it has been a matter of waiting patiently. Quizzed about his recovery process, the veteran golfer admitted things sometimes just flare up. And, the training also changes based on that. “Some days I feel really good, other days not so much,” Tiger Woods added with a wry laughter. 

At 48, Woods looks to make his 24th consecutive cut at the Masters. Currently, he holds the record of 23 consecutive cuts with Gary Player and Fred Couples. Talking about his chances of breaking that record this year, Tiger Woods mentioned the course favors players who have the ‘knowledge’ of the greens. That’s also why he thought of still having a shot at the Masters trophy, at least one more time.

Tiger Woods doesn’t look forward to being a ceremonial starter

Augusta National has changed a lot since Woods first played, and especially since he won here five years ago. This year, Augusta has moved the tee box on the par 5, 2nd hole, with Pink Dogwood  10 yards further to the left. But the 82-time PGA Tour winner reiterated, claiming that despite frequent changes, the ball rolls and moves, and the angles haven’t changed. This also made him hopeful of slipping into the Green Jacket once again, willing to match Jack Nicklaus’s Masters tally.

When asked if he thinks about his Masters legacy coming to ceremonial tee-offs, Tiger Woods swatted aside the suggestion with broad laughter. Rather, the 15-time Major champion asserted, “If everything comes together, I think I can get one more.” But at the same time, Woods didn’t offer any false hopes of playing without pain.  “Every shot that’s not on the tee box is a challenge,” Woods added in the pre-Masters press conference.

Tiger Woods will tee off at 1:24 PM ET on Thursday, and at 10:18 AM ET on Friday, appearing alongside Jason Day and Max Homa.

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