Woods eyes ‘one more’ green jacket

He’s 48 years old and scarred from a long list of surgeries, from spinal fusion to ankle fusion and beyond.

But Tiger Woods made no bones about the purpose of his trip to his 26th Masters.

“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more,” he said.

One more green jacket to add to his five, of course. Still, while Woods last won in 2019, hardly ancient history, he has completed just two 72hole tournaments since his right leg was severely damaged in a 2021 car accident. And Woods acknowledged that the cumulative toll of that accident, stacked atop a long list of unrelated surgical interventions over the years, have left him in an unenviable physical state.

“I hurt every day,” Woods said. “I ache. I ache every day.”

Woods said that presents problems beyond pain management, among them a limitation on his practice time.

“My practice sessions aren’t what they used to be … I used to live on a range or a short-game facility,” Woods said. “I don’t have the ball count in me anymore.”

As a 100-to-1 long shot, the odds suggest that, this week, he won’t win. Still, there’s no denying Augusta National’s premium on course knowledge has made it amenable to players in their career twilight. Jack Nicklaus won here at 46. Phil Mickelson finished second last year at 52. So count Woods’ old friend and 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples among the believers that the big cat has one more run left in him.

“Can he win here? You know what, yeah. I just watched him play nine holes, and nine holes is only nine holes on a Tuesday, but he never mis-hits a shot,” Couples said. “His ankle is bad. We know it. But it looks like he’s here, he’s going to walk 72 holes, and if he keeps playing like that he’ll be a factor. “

Canadian quartet

This is Mike Weir’s 25th Masters, and another one in which the 2003 winner of the green jacket graciously shared some of his career’s worth of Augusta National knowledge with fellow countrymen in a practice round.

Nick Taylor, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin round out the foursome of Canadians in the field here this year. All four played nine holes together Tuesday before Taylor and Hadwin headed off the practice range and Weir and Conners completed the 18.

It wasn’t all about practice. The foursome staged a nine-hole match among friends, the stakes of which were undisclosed. Weir and Conners, the Ontario-raised duo, triumphed over Taylor and Hadwin, both from Abbotsford, B.C.

“Corey and I nipped the West Coasters,” Weir said with a smile.

Acknowledged Hadwin: “They just made a few more putts than Nick and I … But we save our golf for the tournament.”