If you were a leading player hoping to slip into Augusta National Golf Club unnoticed and under the radar for the Masters this week, you’re in luck.
Literally under the radar. Because the radar has been entirely focused on the movements of one aircraft between Jupiter, Florida and Augusta’s little airport.
I find this new element of “Tracking Tiger” to be verging on the boundaries of stalking. But I guess nothing is understated or truly private these days, and maybe Tiger’s just decided he can’t do anything but embrace it at last.
For a player unsubtle enough to call his yacht “Privacy”, Tiger Woods has gained a new taste for getting noticed. Perhaps he’s looking to secure the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Programme millions – which he won last year without striking a ball in anger – before the counting’s even started.
To digress briefly, it seems to me that the “metrics” (translation: can mean anything at all you want) at work in the PIP means that Tiger’s going to win it for all eternity. But hey, we “owe” him the very game of gold these days, I’m often told.
The ‘will he, won’t he’ intrigue
I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete. Congratulations to 16-year-old Anna Davis on an amazing win at the @anwagolf and good luck to all the kids in the @DriveChipPutt.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 3, 2022
Meanwhile the ‘will he, won’t he’ intrigue has many almost wetting themselves. I find it a little depressing golf must obsess about this to the exclusion of all else. But maybe there’s another motive.
I have no idea what 48 hours can possibly mean to him in terms of playing or not, but it surely can’t be very much. To me, the minute he showed up at Augusta for the first time last week and was not carried back to his private plane in an ambulance, meant he’s definitely going to play.
So that determined, how will he play? It’s been 18 months since he last struck a ball in real anger – nobody should count the Father-Son giggles – at the Covid Masters.
This is not actually the longest spell he’s had out injured, although the car crash was obviously the most serious reason for him to be absent.
Various back ailments saw him the best part of three years between 2015 and 2018. There was a two-tournament comeback that stalled during that spell. That resulted in the “final” fusion surgery to his back, and a further year out.
Contrary to the Superman myth, Tiger has not done well on returning from his many injuries. He’s taken time to be competitive again and has often exacerbated the problem or actually developed a new one.
He has a new problem this time – his right leg, which he’s admitted will never be the same after the accident. His ailing back may have had some welcome rest – remember it’s why he wasn’t playing when the accident occurred – but it’s never going to be wholly right again.
‘Never underestimate Tiger’
Tiger Woods may not be ready to confirm he’s playing, but Sunday offered a positive sign.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 3, 2022
I don’t subscribe to this aspect of the ‘never underestimate Tiger’ narrative. Winning at Augusta in 2019 took 18 months after his last long injury break. It was an incredible achievement, no question, but it was not immediate.
I give him a little more – but not much – chance at St Andrews in July if he’s of a mind to be there. In reality it’s impossible to believe that he’s doing anything other than a symbolic return this week.
But that – in itself – is valuable and actually great.
The game has been through the ringer in the last few months. Golf needs his presence, not least because he’s a lodestone for the PGA Tour and his influence against the Saudi-financed coup in the game is massively important.
You’ll have noticed how no-one has mentioned that or Phil Mickelson’s absence since Tiger showed up at AGNC last week.
Maybe I’m being naive on this, if not on his prospects. But Woods ‘moves the needle’ as we’ve seen the last week. I kind of hope that golf might develop something else to do that rather than an ailing 46-year-old, but it is what it is, as he often says.
Tiger blots out the noise from the rest, no matter how much obscene money they’re flashing. That may be the best reason he’s in Augusta.
Growing the game for a century
It's one of the best weeks of the year – golf is back! ⛳️
🏌️♀️ Scottish Girls' at @IrvineGC
🏌️♂️ Scottish Boys' at @MurcarLinksGolfOh and a small tournament called @TheMasters 🇺🇸🌸 pic.twitter.com/bD4JlWhPTF
— Scottish Golf (@ScottishGolf) April 4, 2022
Every year now, we get a host of sorts lining up to praise Augusta National for their Women’s Amateur and the kids’ Drive, Chip and Putt event that precedes the main tournament.
They’re great events, and part of the melting of AGNC’s public image. I think – like a growing number – that a Women’s Masters would be a more impactful thing for golf. But the Green Jackets seem thrilled with the press they get for these gestures.
He’s right. https://t.co/GazNhv4d1E
— Mike Clayton (@mikeclaytongolf) April 4, 2022
But seriously, the USGA, R&A and national unions have been running women’s and junior events for literally a century. They never get this slavish and obsequious response.
The Scottish Boys and Girls’ Opens are this week at Murcar and Irvine. They’ve been going for decades, and they’re just as much fun as DCP. You should try them.
Get in the SGL
This week’s Get In The SGL – not sure this is a runner, but we’ll plough on – is any golfer who tries to excuse themselves by saying he or she is “not a politician”.
This one phrase, it seems, is enough to disassociate oneself from any unpleasantness emanating from taking money from nefarious sources.
It’s actually the lamest excuse. You’re an individual – an independent contractor, no less. By accepting their money, you’re making a definitive, personal statement of what you think about a regime and their actions.
It’s got nothing to do with politics. It’s about basic respect and care for fellow human beings. If you don’t have that, you’re clearly welcome in the SGL.