The Masters Golf Tournament is happening in April at Augusta National golf course in Georgia. There will be live commentary on the Sport News Center website, and a special radio broadcast from Thursday to Sunday night.
Tiger Woods who has won the tournament five times said he thinks he can win again, even though his movements aren’t perfect yet.
Last year, Tiger Woods finished 47th in golf competitions – that was only 14 months after he had been in a really bad car crash.
When asked if people should expect good things from him, the 47-year-old replied by saying that even before his back needed surgery, he didn’t know if could play competitively again. But then he did, and he even won a major competition along the way – though it has been a hard journey because of the accident.
Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland said that Tiger Woods did very well in his practice round earlier. He added: “If it wasn’t for having to walk up these hills and all that, he would be a top contender. Tiger knows how to do all the shots, but he might struggle with walking long distances throughout this very hilly golf course”.
Tiger Woods said that nobody should ever count him out, as he can still accomplish amazing feats. He pointed out that Tiger has all the skills necessary to do well in tournaments of 72 holes. This is despite the difficulty it puts on his body.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods shocked everyone by winning his first Masters tournament in 1997 – an incredible achievement that also made him only the third player to win at Augusta National two years in a row (2001 and 2002). Then he did it again in a totally unexpected way back in 2005, when he chipped-in on the par-three 16th hole during the tournament. And just recently, Tiger achieved another milestone when he won his 15th major title after 11 years – despite having gone through a major back surgery!
He was injured badly in 2021, and the effects are still with him. This has caused him to consider if this could be his last time competing in the Masters event.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to play again last year, but somehow things worked out and I made it,” he said.
Even though I didn’t win the tournament, it felt like an accomplishment just being able to come back and play. I wish I could have won, but the fact that I was there is a victory itself. I’m not sure how much more time I can continue playing so it’s important for me to enjoy my moments here and remember them forever.
Woods competed at the Genesis Invitational in February, and he was happy with his results even though his right leg got hurt and it limits him from playing tournaments or practice. He said, “I’m really lucky that I still have my leg. It’s not like before as there are some pieces of hardware inside it, but I still consider it mine. My leg will never work like before, but I understand that.”
“Because of this, I can’t get ready to compete in as many tournaments as I would like, but that’s okay since it’s my future.”
The weather forecast is predicting rain for Augusta in 2023 during the Masters.
Achieving the Augusta Grand Slam
Tiger Woods thinks it won’t be long before Rory McIlroy gets his win at the Augusta to complete a career Grand Slam. He also thinks that Scottie Scheffler should do good since he’s had a lot of practice playing the course, plus he has Ted on the bag–Ted was the one who helped Bubba Watson win two Masters before. Right now, there have only been three golfers who were able to win consecutive years at Augusta–Jack Nicklaus (1965 & 1966), Nick Faldo (1989& 1990) and Tiger Woods himself.
The relationship between the player and their caddie at this golf course is really important. When playing, there are so many things to consider such as how the ground is sloped, the wind direction and its strength which can all cause penalties for any shot that goes off by even an inch or two. To make matters worse, on this course there aren’t many flat spots – only on the tee boxes.
