Tiger 2.0 takes introspective trip to Augusta
4-time Masters champ will need to study major course.
Tiger Woods will travel to Augusta shortly as a bit of an accidental tourist.
He knows his way around but needs a refresher trip, something more substantial than an Uber ride.
He needs to get a feel again for Augusta National’s bentgrass. The different spins. The bunkers. Whether the sand is heavy or thick.
“I have to see if my book is any good,” Woods said late Sunday afternoon after finishing 10-under at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a number that tied him for fifth place behind winner Rory McIlroy.
It is a number that dangles great promise for things to come at the Masters. It has always been one of golf ’s most cherished grounds, a place where legacies are defined, including Tiger’s.
He has won in Augusta four times but not since 2005. Things have been a bit bumpy for a while. Physical problems, back problems, numerous surgeries, plus that stuff ringing in his head have all been contributing factors. Tiger hasn’t won a tournament since 2013.
It’s all getting better now, evidenced by back-to-back competitive performances at the Valspar Championship and in the annual homage to one of the greats of the game, the late Arnold Palmer.
Arnie and Tiger are much alike, mostly for the competitive vibe and the singular name identification.
Tiger, as we all know, moves the needle unlike anyone else, including McIlroy. You could have picked any of the 18 holes to feel Tiger’s juice in the gallery.
As Tiger walked the Bay Hill course following his tee shot on No. 10, a fan screamed: “Thank you for making Sundays great again, Tiger!” A number of other fans clapped in agreement while a handful of little ones sprawled on the grass simply greeted him with cheers of “Tiger!”
He gets that a lot, and understandably so.
A win at the Masters, which begins April 5, would simply send his resume spiraling into uber-legendary status. And here’s the thing: He has a chance. A very good one. He will take security blankets from Tampa and Orlando with him to Augusta. Emotional ones to give him comfort. And that little book of his that needs updating. No worries. He has plenty of time.
“If I can play with no pain and I feel I can make golf swings, I’ll figure it out,” Tiger said. “I’m starting to piece it together tournament by tournament, and each tournament has gotten a little crisper and a little better.”
Like anyone who aspires for greatness, Tiger will not mess around with any shortcuts. He will travel to Augusta before the tournament, pen and paper and computer and any other gadget necessary on hand.
“I need to take a look at it,” Tiger said. “I haven’t putted on bentgrass in two years. So this is going to be new to me — playing on rye like that over-seeded rye, different spins that we’re going to encounter there . what wedge system I want to use. I have to do a little bit of work.”
Tiger was introspective and at times self-effacing in his post-tournament scrum with reporters. Call it Tiger 2.0.
When Tiger won this tournament only five years ago, he came across as Least Interesting Man on the Planet. He didn’t seem terribly enthused. Perhaps it was that the dominance came too easy.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” he said. Nice is a good bottle of wine. A rare good movie on Netflix. A smooth ride you see along the highway.
Tiger took a jump-for-joy moment and turned it into a shoulder shrug.
The years since have been unkind, giving Tiger a human touch he seemed to lack, with a side of humility.
“If you would have given me this opportunity in December or January, I would have taken it in a heartbeat,” he said of his recent rise. “Everything was unknown. I didn’t know how I was going to feel like, what I was going to do, what swing I was going to make.”
We’re still dealing with a bit of the unknown, but in a good way.
Augusta beckons a former champion, who hopes to take to the remodeling.