| Don’t call it a comeback, not quite yet at least. Just call it the best news the Masters could have possibly received and what is guaranteed to be the biggest story of the tournament, no matter who wins. Tiger Woods, sitting in front of the world’s media on Tuesday, said he plans to compete in golf’s grandest major, and that, despite everything he has faced just to get to this point, he can win. “As of right now,” he told reporters, “I feel like I am going to play.” Nothing electrifies the genteel course at Augusta National more than Woods, who has tantalized the early-week crowds with a game of “will-he-or-won’t-he” regarding his participation. His practice round on Monday attracted the kind of gallery that wouldn’t be out of place for a Sunday final group at a regular tournament. Mere glimpses of Woods have been de facto collector’s items, enough to make the day of all the golf lovers who stopped and stared as he walked past. Any activity was enough to spark an immediate reaction, youngsters and oldsters and everyone in between engaging in a flat-out sprint whenever Woods moved from the practice area to the putting green to anywhere else on the Augusta grounds. Thank goodness he finally appeared to put a rest to the speculation. Golf couldn’t handle the suspense any longer, and this was not the time to downplay things or be coy. “I do,” when asked if he thought he could win the event for what would be the sixth time. FOX Bet has him priced at +6600, and he has not played an official Tour event since the 2020 Masters. “I can hit it just fine,” Woods added. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. Now, walking is the hard part. This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. Now, given the condition my leg is in, it is even more difficult. It is a tough challenge and a challenge I’m up for.” What a challenge it has been. In February last year, Woods was involved in a single-car accident in Los Angeles that left him with open leg fractures and foot injuries that required the insertion of screws and pins. That incident seemed to mark the formal end of his days as a competitive athlete, with repeated back issues having already drastically curtailed his involvement on the professional circuit. Not so. Rumors began to spring up in recent months that Woods was feeling energized and was attempting to get into Masters-ready shape. He played an uplifting father-son event with son Charlie at the PNC Challenge, and seemed to be enjoying life. And here he is. Let’s be clear, it would be nothing short of a miracle were he to compete strongly anywhere near the top of the field this week, never mind threaten to conjure a repeat of his extraordinary 2019 triumph. It scarcely matters. It is a freeroll of epic proportions. Assuming there are no setbacks between now and Thursday, we are going to get to see Woods in action once more, at least for two rounds and maybe more, teeing it up initially alongside Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. With it comes the reality that to watch him now is even more fascinating than witnessing the wins he conjured during the height of his career, when he collected major trophies for fun, and, in a ridiculous stretch between 2000 and 2001, reeled off four straight for the Tiger Slam. The old brilliance is there, all that information and wisdom stored in the mind, the competitive fire burning bright — but with all the handicaps and impediments brought about by age and injury. It will be pure box office gold this week. The best modern golfers on the planet will be in Georgia, but Woods will be the must-see ticket. His gallery will be crammed and the patrons will be sandwiched up against each other like those pimento concoctions Augusta is famed for. Those following the group might have to crane their necks beneath some sweaty armpits just to get an obstructed view. Doesn’t matter. For this is Tiger Woods, defying the odds to get out there and swing away, at age 46. Of course, it could be the last time he does it. Who knows what follows, if anything? Those words he uttered on Tuesday will go down as one of the most dramatic moments of the sports year. And such is the power of what he means to American sports. Let’s hear them again. “As of right now,” Woods said. “I feel I am going to play.” That was enough for the golf world to go into exhilarated meltdown, being, as it was, a sizeable upgrade from the promise of a “game-time decision” that came earlier in the week. For Woods, the ultimate competitor, it is always game time. Through pain and doubt and countless obstacles. He’s doing it for his own reasons, with his own targets for performance, while simultaneously giving golf’s biggest tournament its greatest gift. |
