Tiger Woods insists he can win a sixth green jacket and 16th major title, despite detailing the pain he faces on the vast majority of shots at Augusta National. (More Golf News)
Woods has played fewer than five-and-a-half competitive rounds since undergoing ankle surgery in April last year after withdrawing from the Masters during the third round.
The 48-year-old returned to action in the Hero World Challenge in December and completed all 72 holes, but was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness after six holes of the second round.
Woods had also suffered a back spasm which led to a dreaded shank on the 18th hole in round one, but stuck to his tried and tested answer when asked what he thought he could achieve this week.
“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more,” Woods said, adding with a smile: “Do I need to describe that any more than that, or are we good?”
Yet that question and answer came just minutes after Woods had candidly described the issues that the litany of injuries he has suffered over the years – including almost losing his right leg following a car accident in 2021 – cause him on anything but a perfectly flat lie.
“Every shot that라이브 바카라 not on a tee box is a challenge,” Woods conceded.
“The ankle doesn’t hurt anymore. It라이브 바카라 fused. It라이브 바카라 not going anywhere. So that라이브 바카라 fine. It라이브 바카라 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 (is an issue).
“Things just flare up. The training that we have to do at home, it changes from a day-to-day basis. Some days I just feel really good and other days not so much. I hurt every day.
“I thought that, when I was at Hero, once a month would be a really nice rhythm. Hasn’t worked out that way. But now we have major championships every month from here through July so now the once a month hopefully kicks in.”
While writing Woods off has proved a dangerous game in the past, making a 24th-consecutive cut at Augusta National, having equalled the record shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples last year, appears a far more achievable goal than winning.
“I think it라이브 바카라 consistency, it라이브 바카라 longevity and it라이브 바카라 an understanding of how to play this golf course,” Woods said of that potential landmark.
“That라이브 바카라 one of the reasons why you see players that are in their 50s and 60s make cuts here, or it라이브 바카라 players in their late 40s have runs at winning the event, just the understanding of how to play it.
“Now, you still have to go out and execute it, but there라이브 바카라 a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding how to play it. And, granted, every tee box has been changed since the first time I played. Every green has been changed.
“But the overall configuration of how they roll and how they move and the angles you take, that hasn’t changed.
“That라이브 바카라 the neat thing about this. I can still go through the mental Rolodex and bring out a few putts from the ’90s that still move generally in that direction and the effect that Rae라이브 바카라 Creek has on certain shots and putts. And it means a lot.”
Woods, who will partner Jason Day and Max Homa in the first two rounds, said he remained in discussions about becoming Ryder Cup captain in 2025 and also reiterated his view that Rory McIlroy would definitely win the Masters at some point to complete the career grand slam.
“No question, he’ll do it at some point,” Woods said. “Rory라이브 바카라 too talented, too good. He라이브 바카라 going to be playing this event for a very long time. He’ll get it done. It라이브 바카라 just a matter of when.
“I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day and it could be this week. The way he plays the game and the golf course fits his eye, it라이브 바카라 just a matter of time.”
