When Tiger Woods reached back in time and found his old magic to win his fifth green jacket at the Masters and his 15th major championship overall in April, 2019 at Augusta National Golf Club, it was as though a resurrection had taken place. Woods' last previous major title was at the 2008 U.S. Open, and he spent the next 11 years struggling with injuries and personal problems.
He returns to Augusta in a familiar role as defending champion this week, but Woods will do so in a setting that is almost totally unfamiliar since the PGA Tour shutdown for the COVID-19 pandemic last spring forced the Masters to shift from its normal April date to Nov. 12-15. There will be next to no "patrons," as the Masters likes to refer to the fans who normally pack the course.
What should we expect from Woods? Even he has no idea. He has finished in the top 10 just once in 2020, and that was before the shutdown. Since the re-start, his best finish is a tie for the 37th at the PGA Championship in August at Harding Park in San Francisco, and he missed the cut badly after posting a 73-77-150 in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September.
The last time Woods played was three weeks ago at the Zozo Championship in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he was 3-over and finished 21 strokes behind winner Patrick Cantlay. Asked to look ahead to his 23rd Masters, Woods said, "Well, I know the golf course. So, it's ... maybe a little bit longer and a little bit softer than we've probably experienced. This time of year, it could be in the 70s or it could be in the 30s. Who knows?
"It's not normally played this way, the configuration of events. We're not in a Florida swing. The fact that the Masters will be held in November, it's unprecedented, never been done before. I can't simulate the normal ramp-up that I normally have."
Woods skipped the Vivint Houston Open this week in favor of remaining home in Florida to work on his game. At the Zozo event, Woods acknowledged his game is not in great shape.
"I did not drive the ball and didn't hit my irons close enough consistently," Woods said. "The only thing I can take out of this week that I did positively, I feel like pretty much every hole is I putted well. I feel like I rolled it great. Unfortunately, not enough for birdies."
Woods should arrive in good health, and he can extend himself because the Masters will be his final event of the year. But no one will miss the fans more than Woods, who feeds off the energy they provide.
"There's no other place like it," Woods said of sound across the rolling terrain at Augusta National. "It echoes there, it travels ... The roars for certain people are louder than for others, and then you hear eagle roars and hole-outs on No. 16, or whatever it may be. It's unlike any other place in the world."
At least, Tiger got to hear those roars one last time 19 months ago.
