AUGUSTA, Ga. — Wherever he is coming from, Tiger Woods is here. Now what does he do?
The Masters, golf’s first major championship of the season, begins play Thursday and Woods, a four-time past champion, arrives as he has every year since winning in 1997 in his first appearance as a professional: the pre-tournament favorite.
Except this year nothing about the journey has been remotely familiar.
Woods has not played competitive golf in five months. He has spent 45 days in rehabilitation centers. He has left a trail of tardy indiscretions scattered like shag-bag balls across an open field.
Singlehandedly, he has turned text messaging into a contact sport. Since crashing his SUV into a fire hydrant and opening the door to tales of a secret life of sexapades, he has fallen to earth, a mere mortal after all.
And still, here he is, the hands-down favorite.
“Nothing’s changed, going to go out there and try to win this thing,” Woods said.
Those who make a living predicting such things believe he will. Betting lines list Woods as a 4-1 favorite. Next best is Phil Mickelson 10-1, followed by Ernie Els 11-1 and Padraig Harrington 16-1.
“I would not be surprised at all if he was contending and I would not be surprised if he played better golf than ever. But, there’s obviously a doubt to that and we will only be able to find that out on Sunday evening.”
- Padraig Harrington “And those guys that set the odds know a lot more than I do,” Harrington said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was contending but I just don’t know. No matter what, how he looks or what he comes up and says, you don’t know fully how this is affecting him inside and how it’s affecting his golf. People react differently.
“I would not be surprised at all if he was contending and I would not be surprised if he played better golf than ever. But, there’s obviously a doubt to that and we will only be able to find that out on Sunday evening.”
The uncertainty is very much a part of the appeal. Can Woods really wake up from a five-month golf nap and contend in a major. If Woods really wants to leave his issues behind, there certainly is no better way than to make bigger golf news to report.
And if Woods is capable of putting himself on Augusta National’s leaderboard on Sunday, contending for his 15th major championship, the sports world, and beyond, will stop to watch.
How can you not be curious?
At times looking back, you wonder how he competed at such a high level with all of this stuff going on,” Steve Stricker said. “It’s actually scary to think if he gets his mind a little bit freer and uncluttered that it could be better, is what I’m thinking. I mean, the guy is so talented and so mentally strong. If he can maybe get rid of all the outside factors, he actually could perform at a higher level. That’s what’s going to be interesting to watch, as a fan and as a player, just to see how he plays from here on out.”
The end result — if he’s the slightest big in contention during the weekend — is expected to be the largest television audience in golf history.
The words “Super Bowl numbers” have been suggested.
“He’s generally probably already played three or four tournaments by now and won two of them and everyone is talking Grand Slam every year,” said Geoff Ogilvy. “There’s always curiosity how he’s playing here but there’s probably a level of curiosity from not the golf fans. It’s a broader audience probably this week than maybe the Masters has ever seen, which is cool.”
For his part, Woods insists he is ready for the challenge. He returned to a practice routine about a month ago, and has since spent significant time visiting Augusta National and working toward an on-course comfort zone. “Well, the fact that I haven’t really played at all, that’s a little big concerning,” he said. “I’m hoping to get my feel back quickly, you know, feel for the game, feel for shots, feel more how my body is reacting and what’s my distance are going to be.
“I hope to get that back relatively quickly. Maybe hopefully, the first hole. But if not, please, it’s the second hole. That’s what I’m looking forward to, getting out there and doing it.”
Even if Woods returns to hit all the shots — including the amazing ones — that made him the world’s No. 1 player, there is debate whether that will be enough to automatically make him the Tiger he used to be. A large part of Woods’ immense success was built not just on golf skills, but a bigger-than-life aura and intimidation factor. Woods’ built a competitive edge on the perception he was immune to pressure and above human frailties.
Stepping to the tee box for a final-round title march, Woods not only knew he would win, but competitors knew he knew he was going to win. And Woods knew they knew. Now, can a guy whose life looks like a Jerry Springer Show outtake really expect to again stare down the competition with an air of invincibility?
“I would think that most golfers will look at this as two separate events,” Harrington said. “I think most players would see what went on in Tiger’s life as his personal side, which has no real bearing on his golfing life.
“Now, we don’t know what sort of bearing it’s going to have obviously in the short term. He could be incredibly stressed and have quite an effect, but, long term, you’ve actually got to think that there was obviously a lot of distraction outside of the golf course. You’ve got to actually think he’s going to be a better player on the golf course going forward.”
Fascinating, isn’t it? As far-fetched as the idea of ending a five-month absence by immediately getting into the hunt at Augusta might seem, no one seems convinced it could not happen.
Two years ago Woods returned from a nine-week absence because of injury to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, and immediately needed knee surgery. On the flip side, returned from an absence following the death of his father in 2006 and missed the cut on the U.S. Open.
“We’ve spent 15 years underestimating what he can do,” Ogilvy said. “I have 100 percent confidence in his ability to win the tournament. Not saying he’s going to but I think he can.”
It’s enough to make you look.
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