The Times - UK (2022-04-05)

66 2GM Tuesday April 5 2022 | the times

SportThe Masters

1

Pink Dogwood

Tee: 318ft

Fairway: 262ft

Green: 233ft

2 4 5 6 7 8 9

Flowering Peach

Tee: 239ft

Fairway: 242ft

Green: 252ft

Flowering

Crab

Apple

Tee: 265ft

Green: 229ft

Juniper

Te e :

236ft

Green:

213ft

Magnolia

Tee: 242ft

Fairway: 255ft

Green: 246ft

Pampas

Tee: 219ft

Fairway: 223ft

Green: 239ft

Yellow Jasmine

Tee: 246ft

Fairway: 259ft

Green: 318ft

Carolina Cherry

Tee: 318ft

Fairway: 282ft

Green: 295ft

3

Why undulating Augusta will be a big physical challenge for Woods: Course elevations in feet above sea level

Par 4 445yds 5 570yds 4 350yds 3 240yds 4 495yds 3 180yds 4 450yds 5 570yds 4 460yds

0

70

140

210

280

350ft

Te e Te e

Te e

Te e

Te e Te e

Te e

Te e

Green Te e

Highest point

318ft

Tea Olive

Tee: 315ft

Fairway: 305ft

Green: 318ft

To get on to the practice range here at
the Augusta National, the players are
taken by cart to the cabin on the right of
the range. At 2.05pm yesterday, when
everyone was starting to wonder if we
would ever see Tiger Woods emerge
from the cabin, the five-times Masters
champion materialised from the other
side of the range. Fourteen months
after the car crash that nearly cost him
a leg, he is still doing things other
players can’t.
And everyone else is still wondering
about him. That is the pastime here in
Augusta’s verdant Arcadia.
When the news spread that, yes, that
was indeed Tiger in the white cap, the
rustle of excitement rapidly escalated.
The crowds thickened. Woods shared a
joke with world No 28 Jason Kokrak; he
went through his clubs, from wedge to
woods, and then smiled and chatted
with Webb Simpson next to him. “I’m
quaking,” a man in the crowd said.
Three days from the start of the
Masters and Woods was still here; still,
Woods might play.
When the gates had opened seven
hours earlier, it was the first time in
three years that Augusta had been able
to welcome the masses. There was
therefore a palpable sense of joy, a
heady air of anticipation and recogni-
tion that pretty much everyone coming
in had the same thought in their heads:
where is Tiger?
First thing: head to the practice
range, for that is where he will start. But
he wasn’t there. Then to the informa-
tion board by the Eisenhower Tree. Not

start it. His first drive split the fairway;

20 yards beyond Couples and straighter

than Thomas. To reach your second,

the fairway rolls downwards and then

up again at quite a gradient. And, no,

Woods didn’t look notably slow on

the ascent. By the time he was walking

up the slope on the 8th, you could see

what Davis was talking about: it’s not

quite a limp but his walking isn’t fluid.

As he dips his toe ever deeper here at

Augusta, a picture is gradually building

of a Woods III who looks similar to

Woods II, but clearly not moving as

smoothly. That, at least, is the view

from outside the ropes.

How it looks from inside Woods’s

mind may be considerably different.

It looks as though he could get by

here. Yet when did Woods ever want to

Woods has made fine progress since the crash that left him on crutches, including

there either. Thus did a conversation

continue to circulate throughout

the morning: why isn’t he here? And:

does that mean that he won’t play on

Thursday?

How will he know if he is going to be

adequately fit to play on Thursday?

Well, we know it’s going to rain torren-

tially before then and, in his condition,

he won’t fancy that, so he has to be here

now, right? That’s the only way he can

know if his body will hold up?

There are a million and one story-

lines here at Augusta, but nothing reads

quite like this Woods comeback tale. He

is here, but we don’t know if he will be

on Thursday. Did you see him strike

those irons on the range? Did you see

the shots of him on the back nine on

Sunday? He looked good, didn’t he?

Augusta is heaving with instant experts

and amateur speculation.

If he does play, what will it look

like? He did nine holes on

Sunday behind closed

doors, when only the

Masters in-house media

team were permitted to

Woods played his practice round with his friend Justin Thomas, the world No 7

Speculation goes

into overdrive as

Woods III emerges

record the session. And then, when

those pictures showed that he was

wearing FootJoy shoes rather than the

Nikes, the fascination grew.

By midday yesterday (Augusta time)

Nike had put out a statement that said

nothing apart from “we’re all still

friends, nothing to see here”. Mean-

while, shares in FootJoy’s parent

company had risen by 2 per cent.

Simultaneously you wonder what

the footwear switch means — as in: is

this a biomechanical thing related to

the injury? In which case, to what ex-

tent will Woods’s swing, post-accident,

and the physical nature of his approach

to the game be able to mirror the Woods

of before — which, in effect, makes this

Woods III, because we already had

Woods II after knee and back surgery.

The Augusta National has been

deliciously managing this unfolding

mystery. After his nine quiet holes on

Sunday afternoon, the Masters’ own

website was able to report that Woods

“played beautifully” in a half-round

that “never looked laborious” and then

added, flirtingly, that: “Woods certainly

looked like a competitive golfer in deep

study, not one searching for answers.”

While it is unlikely that the Masters

hosts would have printed the opposite

— “Woods winced at every shot, the

guy is kidding himself, he can’t find the

answers” — there were some facts

appended to the report, including that

he missed only one fairway.

A less invested insight into all this

was provided by Cameron Davis, the

rookie Australian who was playing

ahead of Woods in a slow field and end-

ed up sharing the final five holes with

him. “He’s hitting the shots that you

know you should hit,” Davis said.

“He wasn’t doing anything

special. He was playing

well. Everything was

looking pretty solid.

“I don’t see any reason

why he wouldn’t be able

to put a few rounds

together. It looks like the

work he’s been putting in

has set him up pretty well

for this week.”

That sounds encouraging

enough. But then also this: Woods

was “a little slow going up the hills at 17

and 18”. This may have been an under-

statement. Yesterday the world was

finally able to watch too. Woods went

from the driving range to the first tee for

the tastiest of three-balls with Justin

Thomas and Freddie Couples. By the

time he had teed it up, the galleries were

thronging.

It felt like a Masters Sunday, except

we were wondering not if he were going

to win it but whether he would even

Owen Slot

Chief Sports

Writer

His Masters record

As amateur

1995 Tied 41st

1996 Missed cut

As professional

1997 Winner

1998 Tied 8th

1999 Tied 18th

2000 5th

2001 Winner

2002 Winner

2003 Tied 15th

2004 Tied 22nd

2005 Winner

2006 Tied 3rd

2007 Tied 2nd

2008 2nd

2009 Tied 6th

2010 Tied 4th

2011 Tied 4th

2012 Tied 40th

2013 Tied 4th

2014 Did not

play

2015 Tied 17th

2016 and 2017

Did not play

2018 Tied 32nd

2019 Winner

2020 Tied 38th

2021 Did not

play

The Masters

First round, Thursday

Augusta National

TV: 2pm, Sky Sports

Main Event and Sky

Sports Golf

ANDREW REDINGTON/GETTY IMAGES