Tiger conservation hope simply underlines Augusta’s open field
THE breathless excitement this week over the involvement of Tiger Woods in the Masters laid bare a void at the top of golf. All it took was one sighting of his private jet flying into Augusta for Tiger-mania to soar into the skies again and reach a dizzying altitude.
At 46,Woods should have been escorted quietly off to the museum by sleeker, younger models by now yet he continues to be the man. Even at No.944 in the world, even as a player who has not been seen competitively for 17 months, the magnetism he radiates far eclipses that of any of his rivals.
Golf has flirted with Rory Mcilroy as a replacement pin-up only to be continually let down, enjoyed a quirky fling with Bryson Dechambeau and even tried rewinding the clock back to Phil Mickelson but it turns out that still nothing compares to Tiger.
Part of that is down to the status Woods enjoys. Fifteen Major Championships marks him down as officially the second-best player, behind Jack Nicklaus, who has ever swung a club. Greatness always exerts a pull. But part of it is also the anaemic nature of the competition. When Scottie Scheffler, nice Christian boy that he may be, is a sport’s No.1 then you know it has a problem.
Scheffler’s dance steps on the tee may give hope to the rest of us but a charismatic mover and shaker for the game he is not.
Still, at least the American has shown he can close out a tournament in recent weeks.aside from Scheffler, and the low-key Australian Cam Smith, none of the other players in the world’s top 10 have won a single event this year.
In one sense that makes for a potentially interesting Masters in that a formline to the likely winner is invisible – Augusta National is going to need a range of different jacket sizes on standby.
But what it also does is underline the lack of a dominant figure or a genuine rivalry at the summit of golf at the moment. There are plenty of good players around but genuine stardust is thin on the ground.
With no Woods, Mickelson or Mcilroy, and with Jon Rahm out early, the most compelling aspect of theworld Matchplay a fortnight ago was the grass bunkers.
Whoever is in the field,augusta National always carries its own allure.
It is the first Major of the year, it looks sumptuous and it brings the warmth of a Georgia spring into our living rooms.the golf course, lengthened a little this year, invites drama.woods has been indelibly linked with much of it since he stunned the sporting world with his 12-stroke win 25 years ago. The single most spellbinding golf shot in history may well have been Woods’s slow-mo chip-in at the 16th in 2005.
His Truman Show existence has been lived out at Augusta.
From the tearful greenside embrace with his father after his first triumph to the mirror image cuddle with his children after his fifth win in 2019, and the embarrassment of a plane trolling him overhead with banner messages over his lurid private life in between, the place has been the backdrop.
Everyone loves a good comeback tale but there has been an added piquancy to this one withwoods. The yearning for him to be involved again there next week has bordered on desperation.
Having trousered £6million for winning the PGA Tour’s player impact prize last year – doing so without playing a competitive tournament – Woods is already assured of another bloated payout this season.
At some point golf is going to have to learn to live without him. Self-evidently, that point has not yet been reached.