Tiger Woods shall be at Augusta National in seven weeks. That a lot we all know.
The solely query left is: Will the 15-time main champion be teeing it up on the Masters or merely watching as Rory McIlroy makes his title protection?
In his pre-tournament press convention because the host of the Genesis Invitational, Woods teased that the Masters was not off the desk for him however he wouldn’t elaborate additional on what that meant or how he would construction his preparation ought to he really feel his physique and recreation are able to return.
On Saturday, Woods joined the CBS broadcast sales space through the third spherical and artfully sidestepped a query from Jim Nantz. As CBS rolled a promo for the Masters, Nantz talked about McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler earlier than asking Woods if he knew anybody else who can be enjoying at Augusta National in 50 days.
“I know I’ll be there,” Woods stated. “We’re going to open up The Patch. [Trevor Immelman] and I are going to be part of a great dinner. “I know a lot of people who are playing.”
But is it an actual chance that Woods will tee it up at this 12 months’s Masters?
“There is,” Woods stated with a smile.
What the pre-tournament preparation would seem like continues to be up within the air, with Woods presenting a myriad of pre-Masters choices, together with his PGA Tour Champions debut.
“I don’t know,” Woods stated when requested if he would play a match earlier than the Masters if he determined to return. “Wherever it’s regular [PGA] Tour, senior Tour or member-guest, I don’t know.”
Woods, who has not performed competitively for the reason that 2024 Open Champions, continues to be rehabbing from the lumbar disc alternative surgical procedure he had in October. He stated he has progressed to hitting full pictures nevertheless it is not on the stage the place he can return to aggressive play. That’s a piece in progress.
“It’s just one of those things where each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing, I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again,” Woods stated throughout his pre-tournament press convention.
When chief Jacob Bridgeman hit a 7-wood to 2 ft for a tap-in eagle on Riviera’s par-5 eleventh, Woods joked that he is not “hitting it like that” but.
“I wish I could be out this week playing with these guys. Watching these kids play this golf course is quite fun,” Woods stated.
Here’s what else we discovered from Woods’ time within the CBS sales space.
1. Tiger’s motivation for main FCC
New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has praised Woods for his willingness to serve as chair of the Future Competitions Committee to assist form the PGA Tour’s future.
The 15-time main champion and 82-time PGA Tour winner has an opportunity to jot down the ultimate chapter of his enduring legacy by serving to rewrite what the PGA Tour appears like. That has included, in response to Woods, numerous conferences and lengthy nights of “free-flowing ideas” as he and the remainder of the board attempt to map out the longer term.
For Woods, now 50, it was essential that he, like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus earlier than him, performed a task in bettering the Tour that has given him a lot and guaranteeing the subsequent wave of stars has a Tour they will succeed on.
“Well, Jack and Arnold actually created the PGA Tour when we broke off,” Woods informed Nantz when requested about why it was essential to him to assist reshape the Tour. “We were in a very difficult time when I came on the board and trying to reshape the Tour and get it to where our Tour had the best players in the world playing here. It was a difficult time. We have gotten over hump, we’ve got some momentum going and now we’ve got to keep that momentum going. I’m part of chairing the FCC and creating that momentum and taking it into the next generation, starting in 2027.”
Trevor Immelman requested Woods how he has gone from being centered on profitable and setting information to now specializing in bettering the PGA Tour for the longer term. Woods thought again to his PGA Tour debut as a 16-year-old newbie on the LA Open, and famous it is essential to him that he depart the Tour higher than he discovered it.
“I’m single-minded in a different way,” Woods stated. “I’m single-minded for that little kid who teed off in 1992 in the LA Open. I’m single-minded for the opportunity for them to play the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour gave me an opportunity. I’m trying to give the next generation the same opportunity.
“We want to keep elevating our Tour so it can be even better than it is right now.”
Restructuring the PGA Tour schedule is a big part of the FCC’s mandate. Woods has said he has spoken with the CEOs and CFOs from each tournament sponsor, as well as the PGA Tour’s media partners, and all are willing to move things around as needed. The hope is that many of the changes will go into effect in 2027.
2. Tiger on Rory’s Grand Slam, chances to repeat at the Masters
Prior to McIlroy’s thrilling 2025 Masters winWoods was the last man to complete the career Grand Slam. He completed the career Grand Slam at the age of 24, when he won the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews.
It took McIlroy much longer. The Northern Irishman watched the scars pile up as his decade-plus major drought went on, but Woods always felt he’d triumph at Augusta National.
“I bought fortunate. I used to be in a position to get mine out of the way in which after I was younger,” Woods told Nantz and Immelman about watching McIlroy’s moment. “Rory’s scenario was, he had so many alternative alternatives and we all the time thought, of all of the locations he was going to win it was going to be Augusta National. The final time he had a chance there it was a troublesome scenario. He discovered from it. We all the time thought he was going to get it completed. But as years go by it will get tougher and tougher. But finally he bought it completed. It was a giant second to observe him grow to be a profession Grand Slam champion.”
McIlroy will return to Augusta as the defending champion, looking to join Woods, Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only players to successfully repeat at the Masters. Woods understands it’s a tall task, but he also knows that winning at Augusta gives you the confidence that you can do it again. McIlroy now has that.
“It’s not easy,” Woods said. “But once you’ve done it, you understand that you can win and you know what it takes to get it done.”
3. Tiger’s ‘most nerve-wracking tee shot’
The Genesis Invitational, which Woods now hosts, holds a particular place within the 15-time main winner’s coronary heart. With Woods within the sales space for nearly an hour, CBS took the chance to play a clip from Woods’ debut on the 1992 LA Open, the place a 16-year-old Woods teed off in entrance of Sam Snead.
“I was playing the pro-am there and that was one of the most nerve-wracking tee shots that I’ve ever hit,” Woods stated. “To see the great Sam Snead right behind me, just staring right into me.”
Woods would go on to tie Snead’s report of 82 PGA Tour wins, including to the significance the Southern California occasion holds for Woods.
“The synergy of this place and the things that have happened in my life, you couldn’t imagine,” Woods stated.
4. Woods’ recommendation to tame Riviera’s greens
The greens at Riviera Country Club have given the sport’s most closely fits this week. The Los Angeles space bought an honest quantity of rain early within the week, which has softened them up with out them dropping a lot velocity.
Collin Morikawa stated they have been “hit and hope” greens after Thursday’s first spherical. On Saturday, Woods defined how the combination of sentimental however quick Poa annua greens can play thoughts tips.
“You get some interesting putts out here with how fast they are,” Woods stated. “But you don’t equate soft greens to fast greens. So that mentality is, ‘Oh, my 5-wood is backing up on the green or my 4-iron is backing up,’ but to then have to drip a putt in is so difficult mentally.”
To Woods, the secret is to decide to your velocity and get rid of the “pinko board” impact that may happen on bumpy Poa greens.
“The downhill putts, obviously, you’re going to be dripping. But if I’m putting uphill, I’m smoking it,” Woods stated. “It’s committing to the fact that if you have an uphill putt or a flat putt, I don’t mind having two or three feet coming back. But I don’t want — the greens have that plinko effect and that can happen if you happen not to be committed to your speed, so anytime I have a chance to rip one into the back of the hole, I would.”
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