Tiger Woods Quiets the Critics at the Masters

Let me start out by saying I was wrong.

When asked on twitter leading up to the Masters, I said Tiger Woods would not make the cut. I thought he would shoot two rounds in the mid 70s (I said 75-76 MC to be exact).

I was wrong.

I figured that after what we saw from him at the start of 2015, coupled with the fact that he hadn’t played a PGA Tour event in 2 months that there was no way he would be able to come to Augusta National and compete.

I was wrong.

I thought for sure that we would be seeing the end to not only one of the greatest eras in goldfish but in all of sport this week.

Clearly, I was wrong.

Tiger proved more than just me wrong this week. He proved most of the golf community wrong as well. There weren’t many people going into the week that had predicted that he would show up and play all 72 holes. Even fewer thought he would muster up his T17 finish. He did and we were all wrong.

He shot a 1-over 73 to open things up on Thursday and while he didn’t look all that great off the tee that score could have been a lot higher if not for his chipping and putting. The same short game that was in such disarray two months ago that he actually skipped his hometown Florida Swing events was the steadiest part of his game not just Thursday, but for the whole week.

Shaking off the rust of having not played a competitive round in two months, Woods went out and shot back-to-back 69s on Friday and Saturday, the first time he shot consecutive rounds under 70 in a major in close to a decade.

Think about that one for a minute. One of, if not the most, dominant golfers and athletes of all time hadn’t shot two sub 70s rounds in a major in 10 years. Just when we all thought he was done too, he comes out and does it on Thursday and Friday at Augusta National.

Those two 69s put Tiger in a place where we have seen him so many times on a Sunday at a major over the last 20 years. He played in the third to last group out with Rory Mcllroy, once again in contention in a major (albeit 7 shots off the lead). Once again the red shirt was back and actually meant something on a Sunday.

While he would stumble on Sunday and shoot a final round 73, suffering a wrist injury on the 9th hole, he finished in a tie for 17th in a major after a two month absence from the game.

This was certainly a different Tiger. He showed up during the week and giving everyone in arms length a bear hug. He was seen in the practice area, as he put it “rocking out” to music. He smiled a lot. He even participated in the par 3 contest on Wednesday for the first time since 2004.

When Thursday rolled around it was clear, at times, that the old Tiger was back. Whether this is the new, old Tiger, or it was just a flash in the pan for the week of a major, one thing is for sure after the 2015 edition of the Masters.

I, and we, were wrong.

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About Dan Hauser

As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.

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