Tiger and Phil have a shot at history
The over-40 set appear strong for this weekend’s Masters
AUGUSTA, GA. — Tiger Woods with his repaired back, Phil Mickelson with his psoriatic arthritis, and a few other fellow oldies but goodies will drive down Magnolia Lane with hope springing eternal ahead of the granddaddy of all golf tournaments, the Masters.
On one of the most famous golf courses in the world, where wisdom, seasoning and experience is regularly rewarded, the elder gentlemen, all 40 or over, should feel right at home this week among the Georgia pines and have an edge in the first major championship of the year.
“It’s the only major we play year in and year out at the same venue, and experience is more of a factor there than anywhere else,” said Mickelson, still a factor at 47 and a tournament winner again this year for the first time since 2013. “Knowing how to hit the shots, knowing how to lay back, how to attack, is a big part of being successful there.”
History, however, is not on the side of the older players ahead of one of the most anticipated Masters in years, partly because of the resurgence of Woods in the last few months. In 81 editions of the Masters, only six players — all members of the World Golf Hall of Fame — won the coveted green jacket while in their 40s. Only one, Mark O’Meara, who was 41 when he won in 1998, has done so in the last 22 years.
Jack Nicklaus, a winner of a record six green jackets, became the oldest champion at 46 in 1986. Back then, his fame and age — and a Sunday back-nine charge — combined for the epic tale.
“Any winner over 40 back then was very unusual,” Nicklaus said.
Among the barriers against the elder set have been the odds — since the inaugural Masters in 1934, they have been severely outnumbered by younger players in the field, as they will be again this year.
Also, back in the day, as players got older and equipment progress was slow to take hold, they lost distance, which is a premium at Augusta National. And as defending Masters champion Sergio Garcia said, what the younger players don’t know doesn’t hurt them.
“It’s like a double-edged sword,” Garcia said. “Experience is obviously important because you know some of the places where you can hit it and some of the places where you just can’t hit it. At the same time, the beautiful thing about not knowing too much about the course is that you haven’t had too many bad experiences. So there’s not as much scar tissue.”
Against that testing background, it took 19 years before Ben Hogan was the first to overcome the age barrier when he won the 1953 Masters at 40. Sam Snead was 41 when he won the following year. Gary Player was 42 when he won in 1978. Then there was Nicklaus in 1986, Ben Crenshaw at 43 in 1995 and O’Meara in 1998.
But times, they have been a changing. Advancements in technology, golf equipment, nutrition, fitness, medicine and instruction including high-tech radar components and 3D motion capture systems, have extended careers in golf at the highest level. Tapping into these numerous disciplines is allowing more golfers to maintain optimum performance levels well into their 40s and beyond.
“I think 50 is the new 40. 60 is the new 50,” said Rory McIlroy, the 28-year-old winner of four major championships. “Everyone is trying to live healthier lifestyles and live longer. People know their bodies better, everyone travels with a physio, everyone travels with a trainer. That didn’t happen 20 years ago.
“Jack winning the Masters at 46 was an anomaly.”
It wouldn’t be this year. Fastforward from the previous century and the two leading actors among the elder set are Woods, a winner of four green jackets who is healthy and strong again at 42 after his fourth back surgery; and three-time Masters winner Mickelson, who could surpass Nicklaus as the oldest winner of the green jacket.
Among other contenders are Henrik Stenson, 41, the 2016 British Open champion; Paul Casey, 40, a recent winner of the Valspar Championship; 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, 42; 2013 PGA champion Jason Dufner, 41; and Charley Hoffman, 41, who was in the lead after 18 and 36 holes in last year’s Masters. Ian Poulter, 42, gained a last-minute entry to the Masters by winning the Houston Open on Sunday. And no one would be surprised if 1992 Masters champion and 58year-old Fred Couples or twotime Masters champion Bernhard Langer, the 60-year-old wonder who started the final round two shots out of the lead two years ago, hit the leaderboard.
“You usually don’t have a crop that big capable of winning,” said Crenshaw, who won his second Masters in 1995. “Tiger and Phil are exceptional players and they’re always contenders. Two of the best that have ever played.
“Back in the day, older players lost distance, and driving the ball great and long will always get its due at Augusta National. But those little shots, those putts, the touch involved, make that tournament. And your nerves aren’t as strong when you get older . ... Your time is always waning at Augusta National, but now players are stretching out that time.”
There was a time not long ago that few if any imagined the principal storyline heading into the 82nd Masters would be Woods, who hasn’t played in the event three of the last four years but is again making the red shirt mean something on Sunday.
A year ago, the former world No. 1 and winner of 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 major championships was bedridden, in constant pain and unable to hit a golf ball. Then last Memorial Day he was arrested on a DUI charge when Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car. Toxicology reports revealed he had five different types of drugs in his system.
Woods, however, has returned from the abyss of scandal and debilitating back pain. His power is back, his short game is sharp and his confidence has him beaming.
His revival began following spinal fusion surgery last April. “I got a second chance on life. I am a walking miracle,” he posted on his website last week.
He began the year ranked 656th in the official world golf rankings but has moved to 104th in just five starts on the PGA Tour. In his last two before the Masters, he was within one shot of the lead at some point in the final round before finishing second and fifth.
And few have played the Masters better than Woods. He won his first green jacket in 1997 by a record 12 strokes. He’s one of only three to win the Masters in back-to-back years.
But Woods hasn’t won the event since 2005 and hasn’t won any tournament since 2013. Still, because of his present form, his bygone success and enormous popularity, he is a joint favourite along with McIlroy and Dustin Johnson to win.
“There’s no other golf course like it in the world and there’s no other golf tournament like it. It is literally a player’s heaven,” Woods said a few weeks ago. “This year, it’s different. I’m looking forward to it. I am physically able to do it again and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”