Suddenly a roar shakes cold and rainy Augusta. Shortly thereafter, the grandstand shakes again. Who can arouse so many emotions at the Masters? The echoes come from hole 15, a par 5. Tiger Woods has not signed the longest shot since the start. At 47, the giant who revolutionized golf and opened the gym doors was swallowed up by a group of punchers. With the average distance that the Tiger covered with the driver in 1997, the year of its first Masters, it would drop to 128th place on the American circuit today in the ranking of this statistic. Woods doesn’t hit him hard anymore, but he’s still the 15 major champion, the owner of five green jackets, and the game still beats in his hands even as he suffers from running down the Augusta slide. Magic on the second hit. The ball touches the flag. First roar of the fans. With the next putt he chases the birdie. Second Scream.
The bingo then places Tiger among the golfers who make the cut after the second day. And while he’s suffering with two straight bogeys at 17 and 18, he’s saved with those +3’s giving him two more rounds of golf this weekend. Old Tiger has one more lesson to teach the younger, stronger boys. Without going any further to his friend Rory McIlroy, world number two, who stars in the big bump of this Masters after carrying five over par and packing his bags overall on day two. An unexpected farewell to one of the favourites, the man who was chasing after the only great missing to complete the collection of the four, as were Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. At least another year waiting for Rory.
On the return trip, he was joined by Sergio García, who was sent off at +7 on the second lap after five leads. Since touching the skies with his Augusta success in 2017, El Niño has been piling up disappointment at the Masters. There are four failed cuts in his last five appearances (he did not compete in 2020 having tested positive for Covid a few days earlier and last year he finished 23rd). And remembering his 13 strokes on the 15th hole in 2018 when he defended the green jacket by throwing the ball in the water five times in a row and signing the worst hole in the history of the tournament. “I didn’t miss any shots. It’s a shame,” he said at the time. Today, again in the eye of the hurricane after his departure to the Saudi league, the man from Castellón continues without finding the key that activates his best memories from the Masters “Mentally we’re solid,” he explained of his game after day 1. The flight didn’t come back on the second and he chained three bogeys in the four holes left after Friday’s suspension.
Sergio García, hole 18. CHRISTIAN PETERSEN (AFP)
McIlroy and García will already be watching on television the adventures of Tiger, winner of Augusta in 2019 in one of the most spectacular comebacks in the history of the sport, 11 years after his last major comeback. El Tigre was 38th in 2020 and 47th last season. It’s the course that sees him enter the Masters for the 25th time in his career, the first two as an amateur, tying the record of 23 consecutive cuts that Gary Player and Fred Couples both held keep pro. And he savors every hole and standing ovation, knowing that the bodywork is not enough and that any year may be his last year in which he competes. Augusta will always be with her, the eternal right to play in the tournament and the champions dinner on Tuesday, and from now on she thinks more about making memories and experiences with her son Charlie than about choosing to make the list of winners to fatten. “I’ll be able to use the buggy in three years,” jokes the Tigre about his possible move to the circle of veterans after 50. For the time being, he still gives one or the other lesson.
Ranking of the Augusta Masters.
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