Sport
Tiger Woods returns to the Masters
Scrutiny might be even greater this time around.
The last time Woods took an extended break before the Masters, he had won his previous tournament at the Australian Masters and was No. 1 in the world after a seven-win season. Now, his game has been in disarray over a series of injuries, physical limitations and another change in coaching.
He has not won a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013. He has not finished under par in 14 months, dating to the 2014 Dubai Desert Classic. And he has plunged to No. 104 in the world, his lowest ranking since September 29, 1996, a week before he won the first of his 90 professional tournaments worldwide.
Woods has not won the Masters in 10 years, though he has managed there even when his game was off. It is the only major where Woods has made the cut every time.
He missed the Masters last year because of back surgery to alleviate a pinched nerve, and he wound up sitting out 3 months. Four tournaments into his return, he again dealt with back pain and sat out the final four months of the season to fully recover and get stronger.
But when he returned at his Hero World Challenge in December, he tied for last in an 18-man field and chipped so poorly that some analysts said he had the chipping yips. Two months of practice did not help. During the Phoenix Open pro-am, he hit a bunker shot on the 16th hole that shot over the green and into the first row of bleachers.
Chipping and pitching at Augusta National does not not allow for much margin of error, and the scrutiny figures to be at a high level even by Woods’ standards.
“The first little pitch shot he’s got to hit — not chip shot, the first little pitch shot he’s got to hit — will be microanalyzed, and he knows that,” said Paul Azinger, a former PGA champion and now ESPN analyst. “There’s a big microscope on that guy. I don’t think he’d show up unless he feels like he solved that problem.”
When he skipped the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Woods said he hoped to be ready for the Masters and would continue working.
There have been secondhand reports that Woods was playing a lot at his home club, The Medalist, in South Florida. Golfweek cited a source as saying Woods shot 74 with five birdies when he played Augusta National on Tuesday.
