The Masters is back - and so is Tiger Woods. The legend has been responsible for some of the most iconic moments and greatest shots in the major’s history, not to mention his five victories.
But in the five years since his last triumph at Augusta National in 2019 - when he capped one of the great comebacks in sport by claiming a first major since 2008 - Woods has been to hell and back.
Now, as he prepares for his 26th attempt at Augusta, Woods is a vastly different proposition to the young man that dominated golf in the late ‘90s and 2000s.
He’s the world number 950, according to the Official World Golf Ranking.
Forget winning a sixth Masters and tying Jack Nicklaus’ record at Augusta - just being here is miraculous.
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Before that 2019 triumph, Tiger had already endured plenty of tough times. There were years of back and ankle problems in the 2010s, with the 15-time major winner undergoing four back surgeries by 2018.
And there was the personal issues that derailed his superstardom when they first emerged in 2009.
Then came the horror Los Angeles car crash in February 2021, which nearly saw Woods have his right leg amputated during emergency surgery.
He spent three months in hospital, before saying in November that year: “I’m lucky to be alive but also still have the limb. Those are two crucial things.
“I’m very grateful that someone upstairs was taking care of me, that I’m able to not only be here but also to walk without a prosthesis.”
It was a long time before he made it back onto the Tour - fittingly, at the 2022 Masters.
That tournament, he hit an impressive one-under 71 in the first round and made the cut, before ending up 47th overall after two 78s in the third and fourth rounds - his worst-ever scores at Augusta.
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He was clearly struggling badly with physical problems. But he’d done so many times in his career and found his way back to becoming a champion.
Why not again?
What had seemed impossible - that Woods could not only play golf again, but compete - suddenly seemed achievable.
Not easy or likely, mind you, but achievable, thanks to Woods’ unparalleled hunger for success.
Even this week, Woods isn’t just talking about playing at Augusta again — he’s talking about winning.
“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more (green jacket),” Woods said.
He added with a smile: “Do I need to describe that any more than that, or are we good?”
That hunger for success, for greatness, has defined his career. It helped him to take golf to new heights of professionalism and athleticism. Woods famously did five or six physical training sessions per week in his early career, putting on plenty of muscle bulk and gaining a significant advantage on his rivals.
It ushered in a new era for the sport.
And that same hunger brought him back from near-retirement in the late 2010s to becoming a major winner again in 2019.
But the physical issues in the wake of 2021 are on a whole different level to those that plagued him in the previous decade.
He has suffered chronic pain, plantaar fasciitis, and arthritis caused by the trauma of the crash. Back pain also remains a recurring problem. And of course, there’s the simple factor of age.
And yet Woods played on.
Last year, Woods was in Augusta again, battling through the pain. He made the cut, somehow, but withdrew before the third round resumed after a rain delay.
He would have another bout of surgery on his ankle just a week later.
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Now he’s back, and with history in his sights. He is attempting to make the 36-hole cut for a 24th consecutive time, which would take him beyond the tied record of Gary Player and Fred Couples.
Finishing two tournament rounds would be a major achievement.
In 2024, he has completed just one - at the Genesis Invitational, where he struggled with lower back tightness before withdrawing during the second round due to the flu.
But when it comes to his hopes of playing a full weekend, the stats paint a dire picture.
Since the car crash, Woods has finished four rounds in just two of his six starts - the 2022 Masters (47th) and the 2023 Genesis Invitational (T-45th).
His last top-20 finish on the PGA Tour was back in 2020.
Tiger, now 48 years old, has been tweaking his swing in a desperate bid to be able to play - let alone compete.
His former college teammate at Stanford, Notah Begay II, now a golf analyst for NBC Sports, told media last week that Woods is battling a number of physical issues.
“He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he’s presented with -- and he’s got some constraints,” Begay said.
“He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”
Woods detailed the ongoing issues himself on Tuesday.
“I hurt every day,” he said. “I ache. I ache every day,
“The ankle doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s fused. It’s not going anywhere. So that’s fine. It’s other parts of my body that now have to take the brunt of it.
“The back, the knee, other parts of the body, have to take the load of it and just the endurance capability of walking a long time and being on my feet for a long time.”
Nonetheless, the mere sight of Woods swinging a club again always has the golf world asking the inevitable; could he really win again?
Physical limitations aside, Tiger is still Tiger: one of the greatest to ever swing a club, a man who has defied logic and changed the sport forever.
And Will Zalatoris, who played nine holes of practice with Woods at Augusta this week, gave an optimistic review.
“He played great today. He outdrove me a couple times so there was some chirping going on. So, you know, he looks great. He’s moving as well as he can be,” Zalatoris said.
“With everything he’s gone through, it’s pretty amazing to see how good he’s swinging it.”
Meanwhile, long time friend Fred Couples is certainly drinking the Kool-Aid when it comes to Woods’ chances this week.
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“Can he win here? You know what? Yeah,” Couples said.
“Nine holes is only nine holes on a Tuesday, but he never mis-hits a shot.
“His ankle is bad. We know it. But he’s here, he’s going to walk 72 holes, and if he keeps playing like that, he’ll be a factor.”
The past few years have shown that it’s not the golf swing that’s the issue when it comes to Tiger - it’s simply walking. And Augusta is one of the hilliest courses on the calendar.
“For the past couple months, he’s been trying to find a way to recover,” Begay said. “He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 [holes]?’ That’s still up in the air.
“But can he recover from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know, and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”
If he can survive the walk, then there’s no telling what he’ll shoot.
71, like his return in 2022? Perhaps. Make the cut? It’s possible.
Beyond that, it would take a miracle.
But then again, Tiger has been at the centre of so many magical moments at Augusta, so many fairytales - you can never write him off.
