AUGUST, Ga. – Last chill of spring morning, murder in Tiger Woods‘sore, regenerated leg, burned when he started his round at Master. It feels great in the shade here at Augusta National. Huge crowds filled the entire first hole. It’s also possible that no one else is playing.
Everything stops at 11:04 a.m. ET on Thursday to track Woods. Tournament staff abandoned their stations and dashed toward the ropes, as the big problem of professional golf was once again in the spotlight: The most exciting thing in the sport isn’t the stars. Current stars show off their skills where is whether a 46-year-old man can even walk around the course. Tiger isn’t the only story about golf, but he’s the only story that matters to everyone who isn’t really into golf, if that makes any sense. That energy was palpable on the first round at Augusta National Golf Club. The crowd murmured as he stood over the ball, shouted when he made contact and cheered him on as he prepared for the ramp up the fairway. He walks like a man who spends all his life trying not to limp.
He is the victim of his own violent blow, of his own bad decisions, of bad luck, but in the end, his legacy will be defined by the way he refuses to be. victim. He may have quit after his car wreck. The Masters 2019 bought him peace. Instead, he’s still out here. Whatever Tiger Woods is after now, that has nothing to do with his fellow golfers. There are two races that will be held on Thursday, as will at any time Woods show up to play an event. In one, a group of amazingly talented competitors pitted against each other in a popular niche sport. On the other hand, one of the most watched men of his generation is engaging in combat with his own body. If he simply made it to the end, he would win, whether he won or not.
He said he could win.
“I can hit it well,” he said. “Walking is the hard part.”
The future of Tiger, which he no longer believes in, lurks all around him in Augusta. Early on Thursday morning, as he was worked on by a team of therapists, three golf legends took their first shots in the annual ritual, officially kicking off the tournament. The crowd let out loud roars for Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watsonthose who are allowed the rare privilege of feeling a bit of magic they once took for granted in their youth.
Player said: “I was pretty choked up when I hit that tee in the morning.
Then the three legends rolled into the interview room for a grand trail nostalgic tour – a preview of what awaits Tiger Woods after he accepted that the days of competition for the titles His is over. That doesn’t feel imminent watching him on Thursday. He is fighting to not get into the museum pieces who have hit the ceremonial hit. It’s always hard to know when to leave.
“There’s nothing worse than watching a boxer and athletes try to bounce back,” Player said.
The three men were making jokes about their golf game when the Player puffed out his chest.
“If I could brag for a minute,” he said, “I beat my age more than 2,000 times in a row.”
“You’ve got the record,” Jack said. “We don’t challenge you.”
All rolled.
Nicklaus said: “I shot at my age for the first time when I was 64.
“Me too,” said Watson.
“Me too,” said Player, 86.
It’s 18 years from now for Tiger Woods, who believes there’s a reason to win professional tournaments. There was no joy for him to just do that during the course.
“He doesn’t want to play to play,” his friend Fred couple speak. “He can play at home.”
However, long, easy grasslands of nostalgia await. He can see it. Earlier this week, at the Champions Dinner, Woods sat around the table as Watson asked Nicklaus to take out all the people who had ever won the 9th round in 1986, when Jack won his last professional championship, when he was. same age as Tiger now.
“Do you want me to take every shot?” Nicklaus asked.
“That’s right,” said Watson.
So Jack did it, yard by yard, everyone leaning back.
“I’m looking around the table,” said Watson, “the people at the table just – they want to hear – because everyone at that table has been in that position before, winning the tournament. You can understand they want to hear inside, what Jack is thinking inside while playing the last nine holes. “
Jack talks and Tiger listens, still a man absorbing information, looking for an angle, still trying to write his story, all while knowing that his own narrative winter is brewing. arrived very quickly. His time as a doer is running out, maybe another 10 years if his back and legs cooperate. So while the rest of the field this week is working to win a tournament, Tiger is grappling with the force of gravity that brings all the great champions back to earth.
He struggled bravely on Thursday. He rolls in three birdies. He made more than a few tee shots. He grabbed his back after a twist. He brought his pain outside for everyone to see. There is nothing to hide it. He tossed a tuft of grass into the air at Amen’s Corner and stared blankly down the tunnel. His shots seem to be a bit short. After a bad ball rolled off the field, Tiger shouted from the pine straw, “F — off!”
His swing was raised. Much of his body was held steady. Once he used his driver as a stick. Once he was talking to himself, asking the air for help.
“Now, legs,” he mumbled. “F—.”
In number nine behind, he faces a lie in pine straw, which requires one of those famous Tiger moments. He closes his eyes for three or four full seconds. Some observers felt that he was preparing his body for the pain. Then, in the middle, he delivered a monstrous blow, the strongest and most violent of his day, his body twisting and shaking with the recoil of the gunfire. The footage looks perfect.
He finished with momentum into the sixth round, saving par on the last hole. More than five hours after starting, he finished in under 1, a great distance from the leader. His first round in 17 months was a success. In the end, he left the course, not to rest but to endure a long ritual designed to get rid of the swelling in his legs so he could wake up the next day and try all these things. once again. He remains a man openly pursuing something private, a goal that is both brave and strange at the same time. Perhaps some distant version of him was watching through time with pride and amusement, already knowing how it all had to end.
