Kolkata: The suspense over ‘Will he, won’t he?’ is finally over. Tiger Woods has now announced in the customary media conference on Tuesday that he plans to tee off at the Augusta Masters on Thursday - and actually hopes to win it.
Once the hype and the emotions over having the most influential golfer ever back in his natural habitat is over, it will be an even-playing field over the next four days. Expressions of ‘golf needs him’ from his peers will count for nothing as it remains to be seen if his lower right leg, which is knit together with the ‘hardware,’ in Woods’ own words, can withstand the rigours of walking the rolling course over 7510 yards.
It’s only expected in professional sport but then, but the frenzy that one witnessed over the past week of the five-time champion at Augusta coming back to play his first competitive tournament after that crippling accident in February, 2021 leaves one in awe about the man who has nothing more left to prove in his sport. What, exactly, comprises of the importance of being Woods at Augusta Masters?
For starters, he is not even the holder of the highest number of Green Jackets with five titles - that belongs to the legendary Jack Nicklaus with six. Emulating Nickalus’ record with a return to the Tour on what marks his 25th anniversary of that pathbreaking triumph at the Masters in 1997 can be the last word in terms of fairytale comebacks in sport and an amazing sense of occasion - but professional sport doesn’t always guarantee you that. Even if you are a Tiger Woods.
For all of Woods’ superhuman feats on the golf course, his romance with the Augusta has endured over 25 years for varying reasons. This is the course where a 21-year-old coloured American first challenged golf’s elite with a win by 12 strokes - a record which has stood the test of time. He is the only golfer to win it back-to-back, at the height of his prowess, in 2001-2002. e
Only five players have achieved the career Grand Slam of The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open and The Open Championship - and Woods was just 24 years old when he won The Open Championship in his first attempt in 2000, joining Gene Sarazan, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Nicklaus in the elite club.
Injuries started taking a toll on his body but he won the 2008 US Open with a broken leg and torn knee ligament. It would be more than a decade, and five back surgeries later, before he won his next major title at the 2019 Masters, taking his career tally to 15 - making the Augusta National course a venue which would keep coming back like an encore in a fascinating journey.
The overwhelming response that the 46-year-old received when he played the back nine for a practice round at the venue on Monday - even from the hardcore connoisseurs of the sport who lined up the patrons’ gallery - showed what makes him so special for the venue. Golf has, to put it bluntly, moved on beyond Tiger as injuries and advancing years no longer made him the invincible force that he once was - and it would make him no less an achiever if he fails to add even a single title to his 83 PGA Tours titles, forget a major.
This is where his X-factor lies. This is what one makes the tennis fans pine for one last flourish from Roger Federer, now 40, knowing fully well that it will be a tough ask to add to his 20 slams. This is what made legion of his fans pray that Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal earns a berth for Qatar 2022 despite knowing fully well that they don’t have the depth to go the distance.
One can only hope for Woods to last the course and give his best...anything more will be a huge bonus!
