ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt was texting with a PGA Tour pro on Tuesday and joked that if Tiger Woods plays in the Masters next week the rest of the field could play in the nude and no one would know that they were even there.
“I’m kidding, obviously,” said Van Pelt, who will host ESPN’s coverage of the first two rounds of the Masters from Augusta National, April.
“No, you’re not,” ESPN analyst Curtis Strange shot back.
The golf world – nay, the sports world – is abuzz with anticipation that Woods could play for the first time since being involved in a single-car crash last February that could have ended his life and nearly required his right leg to be amputated. Woods flew in his private plane to Augusta, Ga., on Tuesday along with son Charlie, and reportedly played 18 holes.
“It changes everything,” Van Pelt conceded, of the coverage of the first men’s major of the year. “He’s the singular player in the sport. There’s people tracking his plane yesterday like it’s an SEC (conference) coaching search, and just the idea of him going up there and what’s going on and is he going to try, and if he plays, then that becomes its own lane of coverage. It’s Tiger. We all know what he is and what he represents, and if he’s going to try to play after what happened and the car accident – by the way, fellas, it’s not just him playing a tournament, it’s him playing the Masters Tournament. It would be quite something from a coverage standpoint.”
Speculation is running rampant that Woods will play for the first time since competing in the PNC Championship in December, a two-man scramble with his son. That was contested on a flat Florida course in which he was allowed to ride in a cart. Augusta National, in contrast, is considered the toughest walk on Tour. In multiple interviews during the Genesis Invitational in February, Woods dismissed any talk that he could return as early as April for the Masters and conceded that his recovery was proceeding slower than he expected. But there he was in Augusta, spending the day testing his surgically-repaired leg that had a rod inserted into his right tibia to determine if he can walk the hilly terrain.
“I’m so excited that he looks like he’s putting forth an effort to think about it and test his body. Is he going to play? We have no idea. But it looks like he’s testing himself, and that is a good thing, and how else would you test yourself other than to go walk and play and get up there and play some practice rounds and see if you can walk the golf course, see how the leg holds up, see how the game is,” Strange said. “When you practice and walk and work out at home, it’s a different animal than when you get to the site and walk the golf course, which is the hardest walk in golf, Augusta National, and walk the golf course and put yourself in that element and that atmosphere, and I applaud him for trying because he’s got to start somewhere if he’s going to play again.”
When Van Pelt noted that how Tiger felt when he woke up after playing Augusta National likely is more relevant in the decision-making process for Woods than how he felt during the round on Tuesday, ESPN analyst Andy North weighed in.
“Can he even get out of bed this morning?” North wondered. “Because it’s one thing to do it that one day, but to do it four days in a row, on this golf course – I struggled on this golf course all the time walking around, and what he’s gone through, I think it’s marvelous that he’s giving it his best effort.”
Woods is a five-time winner at the Masters, and claimed his 15th Masters title when he came from behind on the back nine to don the Green Jacket once more in 2019. Woods last played in the Masters in November 2020, when he made a 10 on the 12thhole in the final round, his highest score on any hole during his career. He rebounded to birdie five of the last six holes.
“Having known him as long as we have, the thought that he went down to his place in Florida and grinded his butt off to give himself a chance doesn’t surprise me, and it shouldn’t,” Van Pelt said. “I long ago stopped trying to define what a successful week would look like for this dude.
“Now, you can roll your eyes at ‘I only compete if I think I can win’ and should a 46-year-old man play on a compromised leg, and let’s not forget a fused back, should he think he should win? Well, no, not reasonably, but it isn’t reasonable that a guy with a fused back in 2019 beat all those guys that he beat. I’m not putting any limits on him if he’s able to play. But I’m very surprised based on what I thought I knew that the possibility not a week out exists that he could play.”
“To be in this position where people are actually talking about this guy might actually play in the Masters, I think that’s amazing,” North added.
“He likes challenges, doesn’t he?” Strange said rhetorically. “This is certainly going to be a challenge. I look forward to it. I hope he plays. It’ll certainly be an exciting week.”
