AUGUSTA, Ga. — One question I very literally never thought I’d ask of the golf world is this: Are we paying enough attention to Tiger Woods?
The defending Masters champion hasn’t played all that much golf in 2020, he hasn’t looked quite like himself in recent starts, and he’s slipped from the top tier of Vegas contenders to, at last check, somewhere between 15th and 20th. He’s slipped similarly in the world rankings, where he occupies the No. 33 slot. And on Tuesday he fielded a couple questions in his pre-tournament presser that called attention to his age, including this one:
“You’re certainly not a ceremonial player, but do you expect to contend here for this week and years to come, or are you past the point where that’s possible?”
Wait, what? The guy won this tournament last year!
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Granted, if Woods’ resume were attached to any other golfer, we’d write him off as an also-ran. But he’s importantly not any other golfer, and Augusta National is his anti-Kryptonite. You’d be foolish to write Woods off.
But how does Woods look? How does he feel? How’s he playing? I followed the practice round grouping of Woods, Fred Couples and Adam Scott on Wednesday afternoon. Here are five things I learned about Woods, Augusta National and more.
1. Tiger’s working hard on that high draw.
Woods isn’t close to the longest player in the field, not anymore. He wasn’t even the longest player in his group, instead somewhere between Couples and Scott. But he looks good, slightly stronger and more filled out than he did at Winged Foot, and he says he feels good, too. Last year, he hit it far enough to win this tournament. This year, if he doesn’t win again, it probably won’t be because he’s too short off the tee.
Other notes in the “How’s he playing?” category:
-He hit most fairways and most greens.
-He hit it close on No. 8 and No. 9.
-If I’ve learned anything in this job it’s that it’s irresponsible to read much of anything into practice round performance!
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2. Augusta National is very soft.
Augusta’s famed Subair system was absolutely humming on Wednesday. People say a lot of things about the Subair system, things like: “They can make these fairways and greens as firm as they want, as fast as they want.” Like most things at Augusta, this is based in reality but isn’t quite true. The fairways were very soft on Wednesday, and players were landing their golf balls on these par-3s like marbles in Jello.
It’s very likely that the greens will still be soft on Thursday, especially with the promise of rain in the forecast, Subair or not. By the weekend, they may firm up. It seems silly to fully predict anything about this place, because, as Woods said, “One of the neat things about trying to figure this tournament out is Wednesday to Thursday, this golf course changes a lot based off what the committee does.”
The same may be true of the tournament’s players. Wednesday’s one thing. Thursday’s another.
3. Forget the “cold weather” claims.
Wednesday was sweltering. It drizzled for a few minutes near the start of Woods’ round, but when the rain cleared out all that remained was the humidity, which was then joined by the sunshine. Woods is one of the game’s most prodigious sweaters, and it got hot.
“Hey Rob,” he called to his manager Rob McNamara as he wiped the sweat off his face on the 6th tee. “Can you grab me a jacket? Or like, a vest?”
It was kind of funny, but maybe you had to be there.
Anyway, this served as a reminder that when we heard about a November Masters, we thought it would be a disadvantage for Tiger Woods because it would be too cold. If Woods doesn’t win this week, it won’t be because it’s too cold. It’s not supposed to drop below 60 degrees the rest of the week.
4. Woods is sticking to his winning script.
Last year, Woods played nine holes on Sunday with just a wedge and a putter. This year, he did the same.
Last year, Woods played nine holes on Monday with Justin Thomas and Fred Couples. This year, he did the same (plus Bryson DeChambeau).
Last year, Woods didn’t play on Tuesday but he did hit balls, chipped, putted and talked to the media. This year, Woods didn’t play on Tuesday but he did hit balls, chipped, putted and talked to the media.
Last year, Woods played a final nine-hole practice round with Couples, Kevin Kisner and Justin Thomas. This year, he played a final nine-hole practice round with Couples and Scott.
Last year, he won. Sounds like he’s sticking with what worked.
5. His group played 9.25 holes.
Woods, Scott and Couples seemed focused but relaxed; as far as 40-and-over clubs go, this is a pretty cool one. They played the front nine, unbothered by the current hole locations and wholly focused on the pins they anticipate playing to the next four days.
Couples doesn’t like to play more than nine holes in Augusta practice rounds, and in recent years Woods rarely plays more than nine, either. So it was mildly surprising to see them walk from the 9th green to the 10th tee. Couples hit driver slightly out to the right. Woods hit driver, a nice high draw. Scott hit 3-wood out to the right. Scott hit 3-wood, a high draw over the left trees. Couples hit another driver, this one in the fairway. The threesome stayed on the 10th tee, chatting for a few minutes, and then they turned around and headed towards the clubhouse.
I’m not sure what happened to their golf balls.