Gavin Cooney reports from Augusta National Golf Club

THIS IS THE distance-control debate in golf that is stalked by the creeping tone of elegy.

For how much longer can Tiger Woods keep this going? 

Woods will play his 25th Masters tournament at Augusta National this week but he knows that he is approaching the end. 

“Yeah, I don’t know how many more I have in me”, Woods said from the elevated, walnut-walled interview room in the Augusta National press room. When he fielded a question on the proposed roll-back of the golf ball to limit some of the pros’ distance, Woods grinned and said he might be long gone by the time any rules come into force. 

The remarkable part of Woods’ appearance at last year’s Masters was the bare fact of it. That he went and made the cut was another act of Woodsian steel.

But the problem is Woods now has some added steel in his leg. He almost lost his leg in a horror car crash in 2021, but 14 months and surgery later, he was back in front of the world, limping around the course he once prowled. 

“I didn’t win the tournament, but for me to be able to come back and play was a small victory in itself”, said Woods of last year’s appearance at Augusta. “Yeah, I still would have liked to have gotten the W, but I didn’t, but I think I got my own smaller version of that, to be able to come back and just be able to play. I know the golf course and I know where to miss and I know where to hit it. I was able to do that and somehow shoot under par and make it to the weekend. It was a little tough on that Saturday.”

Woods has the shots; he will always have the shots. The problem will never be the approach shot, but the approach to the shot. 

“Mobility…it’s not where I would like it”, he admitted. “As I sit here – I’ve said to you guys before – I’m very lucky to have this leg. It’s mine. Yes, it had been altered and there’s some hardware in there, but it’s still mine. It has been tough and will always be tough. The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same. I understand that. That’s why I can’t prepare and play as many tournaments as I like, but that’s my future, and that’s okay. I’m okay with that.” 

His game is in a better place but his leg is worse. 

“I think my game is better than it was last year at this particular time. I think my endurance is better. But it aches a little bit more than it did last year just because at that particular time when I came back, I really had not pushed it that often. And I had a little window in which I did push it and was able to come back.

“I played in February at L.A. and then took a little time off before getting ready for this. You know, I just have to be cognisant of how much I can push it. I can hit a lot of shots but the difficulty for me is going to be the walking going forward. It is what it is. I wish it could be easier. I’ve got three more years until I get the little buggy and be out there with Fred [Couples] but until then, no buggy.” 

But he will persist for as long as he can through sheer bloody-mindedness. 

“You guys have seen me. I’m a little on the stubborn side. I believe in hard work, and I believe in getting out there and getting out of it what you put into it. I’ve worked very hard throughout my career and in my craft; I’ve always loved it.

“I’ve certainly had my share of adversity physically and had multiple surgeries and I’ve had to come back and work through that. You know, those were tough. They were never easy. But it’s just the overall desire to win has always been there, and I’ve always worked at it and believed in what I could do. I’ve been stubborn and driven to come back and play at a high level. I think that has shown throughout my career and one of the reasons why I was able to – how many cuts I’ve been able to make in a row and how many tournaments I’ve been able to win over the course of my career, and that’s just hanging in there and fighting on each and every shot. It means something. Each and every shot means something.

“I’ve gone through so many different scenarios in my head. You know I don’t sleep very well, so going through it and rummaging through the data bank and how to hit shots from each and every place and rehearsing it; that’s the only way that I can compete here. I don’t have the physical tournaments under my belt. I haven’t played that much, no. But if there’s any one golf course that I can come back, like I did last year, it’s here, just because I know the golf course.” 

Making the cut this weekend would mean something this week. If Woods make it to the weekend, he would tie Gary Player and Freddie Couples for the most consecutive cuts made at the Masters (23).

Woods has been coming to Augusta for so long that the seemingly permanent has changed around him. The big adjustment this year has been the lengthening of the 13th hole – Augusta National bought land from a golf course next door and moved the tee back 35 yards – but changes around here are not usually as palpable or dramatic.

Woods has been around for long enough to realise how much has been tweaked. Remember his famous chip in on 16 in 2005? It’s not just Tiger who can’t play that shot today. 

“The green has changed. There is a new back, deeper hole location there that they tried to fit. But my chip there in 2005 is not the same as – the green is not the same as it was then.” 

An emblem of Woods’ diminished physicality is that he was asked about the Masters prospects of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy before he was asked about his own. 

“Whether I’m a threat to them or not, who knows”, replied Woods whether he believes the likes of McIlroy and Justin Thomas see him as a threat to their own Masters dream. Then came the flash of a smile. 

“People probably didn’t think I was a threat in 2019 either but kind of turned out okay.” 

Not quite finished yet.