On April 7th 2022, Tiger Woods returned to the stage of the competitive golf for the first time since his life-threatening car accident on February 23 2021. It was questionable whether he would even play in the tournament early in the week but fans of golf rejoiced when they found out that the greatest of all time would return to the course. The road back was not easy for Eldrick "Tiger" Woods and the 72 holes ahead of him would be far from a walk in the park.
The conditions at Augusta early in the week were far from perfect, as was the golf played by the 90 golfers that qualified. After Thursday, only 18 players were in the red numbers and the leader, Sung Jae Im, was only at 4-under. Tiger was one of the golfers under par and was looking more or less like his old-self. He shot a 1-under 71, in tough surroundings, putting himself in a spot to attack, tied for 8th. In a post-round interview Tiger said that he "did something positive today." He later claimed that he was where he wanted to be and felt like he was in contention, which was good news for the golf world to hear.
The beginning of his second round did not seem to want to go along with the story book ideal portrayed at the end of day 1. Woods bogeyed four of his first five holes en route to a 3-over of the front side. After the round Tiger confessed that, "I told Joey... It's going to be tough all day, so let's get it back to even-par for the day somehow." He did not get back to even for the day, but he did give it a valiant effort as he fought hard through the back nine to finish the day with a 2-over 74. In another interview that evening Tiger stated that "I don't feel as good as I would like to feel" in response to a question about how the terrain of Augusta National was affecting his body. This toll would become apparent as the tournament rolled into the weekend.
In the third round Tiger hit rock-bottom, scoring wise. He matched a pair of 39s on the way to his worst round at Augusta... ever. He also made 2 doubles on the day and struggled on the greens. When asked about his putting woes, Tiger said "it's just like I hit a thousand putts out there on the greens today." He stayed positive at the end of the interview stating "Always chase after your dreams... I fight each and every day" There would be more fighting for Woods to do as he had 18 more challenging holes still in front of him.
The conditions drastically improved heading into the final round, Tiger's scoring however, did not. He tied his round of 78 from the previous day, although this one was a little more triumphant. With a noticeable limp, Woods headed up 18's fairway towards Butler Cabin. The crowd rose to applaud this man who had done so much just to make it to this moment. Tiger finished the 2022 masters with a par, but that is not what really matters. What matters is the promise shown by one of the sport's greats as he returned to competitive golf.
After it was all said and done the reporters caught up with Tiger Woods one more time. They asked him what the tournament meant to him and how great a victory this was to him. He obviously gave both questions affirmative answers as he showed respect to all the greats who had walked Augusta's grounds before him. In the final question he answered, on how he would describe the week, Woods stated "Thankful... I truly am. Just to get to this point"
It was truly a miracle to be able to see Woods return, not completely to form, but getting closer to the Tiger of old. He promised that, "[I'll] get back after it... and into it," giving hope that we may start a new chapter in the history book of golf. The sports world watches with anticipation as we wait to see what Tiger will add to his already impressive resume.
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