AUGUSTA, Ga. — He still thinks he can win.
Believe him or bet on him at your own peril.
Tiger Woods, 48, will play in his 26th Masters this week at Augusta National, even though he has more physical problems than majors on his impressive resume. And he said Tuesday he believes he still has what it takes to score a record-tying six greens. Jacket.
“If everything goes well, I think I can win another one,” said Woods, who has 15 major titles.
Then he added with a laugh: “Do I need to explain further? Or is that enough?”
This remains Woods’ preferred reality. He’s still at the point where he tells himself he can win a major championship.
This is the actual reality. Woods has no interest in entertaining the idea, at least not in public, but he’s already entered the ritual golfer stage, even if he doesn’t know it yet.
Woods is Nolan Ryan, who believes he can still strike out 20 people even when he retires at age 46.
He’s Wayne Gretzky, who believes he can still score 60 goals at his retirement age of 38.
This is Larry Bird, who believes he can still drop 55 points a game even after retiring at age 35.
He’s Tom Brady, who believes he can still throw 50 touchdown passes when he retires at age 44.
The truth is that Woods is in the early stages of becoming what Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus eventually became at the Masters. Despite the fact that everyone knows he can no longer compete for championships, Woods is an all-time great that golf fans would still be honored to watch play. .
Woods, whose world ranking has plummeted to No. 959, has only played in one tournament this year, failing to make it past the second round and withdrawing from the second round of the Genesis Invitational in February due to influenza.
The last PGA Tour tournament in which Woods played all four rounds was the 2023 Genesis Invitational. The only other tournament he played with a full field in 2023 was the Masters, where he had to withdraw after the second round due to a physical illness.
At his tournament, the Hero World Challenge, held in December, Woods said his goal was to compete in one event a month. So after Genesis, it was speculated that he would compete at either the Players Championship or the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March in preparation for this week’s Masters.
However, Woods did not play in either.
“I wasn’t ready to play,” Woods said. “My body wasn’t ready. My game wasn’t ready. When I was at Hero, I thought once a month was a really good rhythm. It just doesn’t work that way. But now we have a major championship every month from here until July, so I’m hoping that once a month pace will start.”
It’s pure foolishness and fantasy to think that Woods can still compete at his age and physical condition, playing against Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and other stars in their primes. .
Woods is aiming for two important Masters records this week. If he does, it will be his 24th consecutive appearance, breaking the record held by his close friends Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer.
If he wins, he will tie Nicklaus’ record for most Masters with six. Woods won his fifth Masters in 2019, but it feels like an eternity ago considering what he’s been through physically off the golf course in those five years. The worst of these events was a near-fatal car accident in February 2021.
Nicklaus had vowed for years that he would never become a ceremonial golfer, but after outgrowing his ability to compete for championships, that’s exactly what he became at Augusta.
Noting that Nicklaus did not speak for once, I asked Woods on Tuesday if he had ever thought about his own mortality as a competitor, eventually transforming into a ritual golfer and completing his annual ritual. He even participated as one of the honorary starters for the first tee shot.
“No, no,” he said. “I never thought about becoming.” [honorary] Starter here, no. ”
Then I asked him, in a more direct sense, what if he didn’t think everything could “align” and bring about victory, and he said: I don’t know when or if that day will come, but…I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I don’t think I can do it. ”
Miracles can happen – some felt 2019 fell into that category – but Woods is definitely there now and will need a miracle to compete.
Even if in your heart you don’t want to believe it.
Even if some of his closest friends, like Couples, who played with him on the back nine Tuesday morning, won’t admit it.
“Can he win here? Um? Yeah,” Couple said.
The couples said it almost with hope.
Who doesn’t have hope?
Is there a more remarkable story this week than Woods defying all odds and reasons to win his sixth green jacket?
