AUGUST, Ga. – A series of security elements moved into place to let a few people around the back of the clubhouse know Tiger Woods going to the parking lot. His campaigner, Joe LaCava, left Woods’ club in his car and went on a golf cart. Fans ran around the bundle fighting the cold. Then Woods stepped outside and limped over to his car. He looked in pain, and the idea that he was somehow willing to not limp in front of the camera made his long and brutal Saturday feel more poignant. Stripped of his mask, he’s been wearing heavily for the past 14 months, and especially the last two days.
Woods shot 78. The ball looked as bad as the number came out. He grimaced more than he did before. Winds howling around the pitch, temperatures dwindling, it was the worst weather that could happen to his regenerated and aching leg. He teased a joke about it earlier in the week – “I think anyone in this room older than me can attest to that” – but it didn’t look funny in the setting sun. Now hopefully his team can find enough duct tape and wire to get him back to Sunday’s first game.
If that sounds bleak, it’s because it feels a bit so. Energy poured out of the field when people realized he didn’t have a championship in him. Not this year. He’s four holes. He booked three more tables. He bent down hard to read the bowl. Even so, things have happened and what could possibly happen again, when he has more time to get stronger and recover. Standing on the 12th tee, looking up and trying to picture the wind swirling in Amen’s Corner, he did the math in his head. He talks to LaCava, who holds a 9 iron. The wind has changed.
“Nine or wait outside?” LaCava asked.
Tiger takes the stick and takes aim. He stuck it on the green and rolled in his birdie putt. He also hit a 13, before making trick shots on both 16 and 17. A crowd gathered around the final tee. The mood of the gallery isn’t the frenzy of a Sunday charge, or the usual jaunt for a better look. Everyone seems to be grateful, if that makes sense, for his recovery maybe, or more likely for the effort it took to get this far, to the 54th hole of the Masters.
“Thank you, Tiger,” one guy yelled. “We love you!”
Woods hit a good steering drive in the short space of two bunkers to the left of the fairway. He rotated the club and went after the shot. To his right, on the 10th green, a loud roar came from the gallery, cheering for another. It’s not his tournament to win anymore, roars await the rest of the pitch. He continued walking and another roar came from somewhere behind him. The future of golf begins this Saturday, the leaders are all famous with golf lovers who gather around the card table and throw money at Calcuttas, but the only golf legend in the world does not. want to end this march.
Woods hit a second shot into the gallery, made a miss and then ate three to finally end the day. Stepping off the lawn, he exhaled heavily.
“It’s like I hit a thousand bets on the pitch today,” he said. “I just can’t feel comfortable holding the ball. My posture, feel, right hand, way of releasing the ball, I can’t find it.”
With just 18 holes left for him to finish one of the fiercest tournaments of his career, even as he fights for a virtuous victory. He was asked what he hopes people watching at home will dismiss his stubborn determination to play.
“Never give up,” he said. “Always follow your dreams.”
It’s strange to think of Tiger Woods as a guy with dreams. Goals, for sure, like hitting the stats in the gym or getting his range of motion to get better in small increments. Dreams are a childish thing, full of wonder and imagination. He is a discreet guy and his dreams are still his own. But for those wondering why he’s even trying to play this week, there may be answers in that word. The past three days, and Sunday, were just the beginning of something he saw for himself. Tiger Woods won’t win the Masters 2022, but he will leave this place a winner.
“I fight every day,” he said. “Every day is a challenge. Every day brings different challenges for all of us. I wake up and start the fight again.”
