There are a lot of fixtures and fittings in Tiger Woods’ re-built body. A peer at one of his X-rays, for instance, would probably be a bit like leafing through a Screwfix trade catalogue.
“How much hardware is in there?” asked a reporter in the Augusta National press centre as Woods held court ahead of his 25th Masters outing.
“There’s a lot,” smiled the 15-time Major winner of the various nuts, bolts, rivets and washers that hold his battered frame together.
A year ago, amid the towering pines of his happy hunting ground, Woods marked another miraculous comeback by hirpling and hobbling his way through all four rounds at Augusta in his first event since that shattering car accident of 2021.
In a career of formidable feats, Woods always analysed golfing endeavour in a simple, binary way; he either won or he lost. These days, of course, he has to take a broader, more contemplative view.
“I didn’t win the tournament, but for me to be able to come back and play was a small victory in itself,” Woods conceded as he reflected on that Augusta assault of 2022. “I still would have liked to have won. I didn’t but I think I got my own smaller version of that.”
The toll that Woods’ injuries have taken means that cameo appearances are the new normal. His last outing was in his own Genesis Invitational event in February before he retreated into seclusion again. A rare appearance in a media centre means his press conferences now resemble a state of the nation address as the golf writers try to wring every drop out of him like they are putting a cloot through a hand-cranked mangle.
It is not as if there has been a shortage of topics to discuss. In the money-soaked war of attrition between the established tours and the breakaway LIV circuit, the PGA Tour have unveiled plans for a series of $20 million no-cut events for 2024. That collection could include Woods’ own invitational but the 46-year-old, a stickler for the “earn it in the dirt” virtues of competitive golf, is not a fan of guaranteed pay-days.
“I’m certainly pushing for my event to have a cut,” said Woods, who made a record 142 consecutive cuts in his pomp between 1998 and 2005. “I still think that there needs to be a penalty for not playing well. Every event shouldn’t be always guaranteed 72 holes. But we are trying to figure that out.”
Since Woods was last plonked in front of a microphone, the proposal by the game’s custodians, the R&A and USGA, to introduce a distance-limited golf ball at the elite level in 2026 has caused all manner of discussion, debate, hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing.
“Well, by the time it takes effect, I may be long gone,” he said with a chuckle.
As one of the great golfing all-rounders, though, Woods has always been an advocate of putting the brakes on the ba’. That stance was re-affirmed yesterday even if it is a view not held by all of his peers.
“This should have happened a long time ago,” he said of this belated attempt to rein back distances. “The average [drive] used to be, what, 280 off the tee, 279 when I first came out on tour,” noted Woods. “Yes, it’s exciting to see Rory McIlroy hit it 340 yards on every hole. But does it challenge us and separate the guys who can really hit the ball in the middle of the face and control their shots? I think if you roll the ball back a little bit, you’ll see that the better ball-strikers will have more of an advantage over the guys who miss it a little bit.
“Last week, I was playing at home and I had my old Persimmon driver and I was still able to still carry the ball 290 yards. When I missed it? It did not go very far. But the ability to hit the ball in the middle of the face was rewarded.”
Rolling back the ball is one thing. But what about Woods rolling back the years at Augusta this week?
“If there’s one golf course I can come back on, like I did last year, it’s here,” said Woods, who won the last of his five Masters titles in 2019. “People probably didn’t think I was a threat in 2019 … but that turned out okay.”
