Woods finally gets shot to defend title
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The golf course seems shorter than ever — under assault by Titleist-detonating long drivers — yet the wait has been longer.
At long last, the 2020 Masters is upon us.
Tiger Woods has been defending champion for an unprecedented 19 months, with the world’s most exclusive tournament postponed from spring to autumn because of the pandemic.
“It’s been incredible to have the jacket, and to have it around the house to share with people,” said Woods, a five-time Masters champion. “But to have it this long, it’s not the way I wanted to have it. I wanted to earn it back in April, but obviously we didn’t have that.”
No patrons. No ropes. No azaleas in bloom. But still lingering in the air is the memory of Woods’ incredible revival, his first major championship victory in 11 years. It came after four back surgeries that, as recently as three years ago, left him unable to get out of bed, let alone play golf.
“I’m still getting chills thinking about it,” he said of the victory, when at 43 he became the second-oldest Masters winner behind Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won in 1986. “Feelings, just coming up 18 and knowing that all I have to do is just two-putt that little 15-footer, and to see my family there, and my mom and kids, and all of the people that helped support me or were there for me in the tough times.
“It still gives me ... you know ... a little teary.”
There’s a place at Augusta for sentimentality, but not in Bryson DeChambeau’s bag. He has to make room for that thundering driver, and perhaps a new one that’s a half-inch shy of the maximum allowable 48 inches.
The bulked-up DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open in September, is going to try to use his overwhelming power to wrestle this storied course into submission.
“If somebody is hitting a
driver off the tee, and I’m hitting a hybrid or 4 iron off the tee to hit it the same distance, that’s an advantage I will always have,” said DeChambeau, the Tour’s longest driver by an average of nearly 13 yards. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can really do about that.
“From a course setup standpoint, people can try to do certain things, and I don’t think there’s anything we can really do anymore.”
Augusta will try, just as it strived to “Tiger-proof ” the course two decades ago, adding distance to 10 of the holes when Woods seemingly bled the challenge out of them.
“I’ve been reluctant thus far to make any major changes regarding adding distance to the golf course,” said Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National. “I think sometimes when you do that there are unintended consequences that come out of that. The scale and the scope of the hole, it changes when you add distance. It changes more than just adding distance. The look of the hole changes. And the design philosophy of the hole changes.
“Having said that, I think we are at a crossroads as relates to this issue.”
Ridley said the club will look at studies due to be released in April about the impact of huge hitters on courses and recommendations about what can be done.
“All I can say is that, as it relates to our golf course, we have options,” he said.