Despite only completing 24 holes on the PGA Tour in 2024, Tiger Woods believes he can win this week's Masters if “everything comes together” for him at Augusta National.
15-time major champions tend to be like that.
“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more,” Tiger said at his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.
In addition to a sixth green jacket — and a record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour victory — Tiger is vying to make a record 24th straight cut at Augusta.
“I think it's consistency, it's longevity, and it's an understanding of how to play this golf course,” Woods said about his two-plus decade of success at Augusta. “That's one of the reasons why you see players that are in their 50s and 60s make cuts here, or it's players in their late 40s have runs at winning the event, just the understanding of how to play it.”
Tiger, 48, last completed a PGA Tour event in February of 2023. He withdrew after the second round of last year's Masters due to plantar fasciitis, then underwent season-ending ankle fusion surgery. He completed two unofficial events in the fall.
In December, Tiger said his goal for 2024 was to play about “a tournament a month.” Since then, he WD'd from the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16 with illness and skipped the Florida Swing — including the Arnold Palmer Invitational (he's an eight-time winner of the Signature Event) and the 50th edition of the Players Championship.
“Well, I wasn't ready to play,” Woods said about his absence in March. “My body wasn't ready. My game wasn't ready.”
Tiger said his training and recovery regimen changes “daily”. Much of the time he used to devote to hitting balls has been redirected to physical maintenance.
“I ache every day,” he said.
Tiger has withdrawn or missed the cut in four of his six starts since his Feb. 2021 car accident.
Tiger hopes the majors' monthly cadence will push him to play more regularly. The PGA Championship begins on May 16, the U.S. Open on June 13, and the Open Championship on July 20.
“I thought that when I was at Hero, once a month would be a really nice rhythm,” he said. “Hasn't worked out that way. But now we have major championships every month from here through July, so now the once a month hopefully kicks in.”
For what it's worth this early in the week, various folks who have witnessed Tiger's practice rounds at Augusta have been encouraged by his ball-striking and movement.
Tiger knows the property better than anybody, but six miles of hilly terrain that comprise “the hardest walk in golf” pose a unique physical challenge.
“I just watched him play nine holes, and nine holes is only nine holes on a Tuesday, but he never mishits a shot,” said 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples. “But the idea of making a cut, I think he would laugh at that because that's a huge record, but he's here to win. He's here to play really, really hard.”
Tiger – who will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of his 2019 Masters win this week – owns the lowest single-round scoring average in the history of Augusta, for players with between 75-99 career rounds.
Tiger will begin his 26th Masters on 1:24 p.m. ET on Thursday, alongside Max Homa and Jason Day. The group will start the second round at 10:18 a.m. ET on Friday.
Follow Us
Subscribe