Tiger Woods leans on a different kind of power and breaks par in Masters return. ‘I’m right where I need to be’

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This article was published 07/04/2022 (1617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A quarter-century ago, when a 21-year-old Tiger Woods obliterated the Masters field by 12 shots, he was a dominant force at Augusta National and left his competitors and the club’s members positively reeling.

After he’d built a nine-shot lead with a third-round 65 that year, his Saturday playing partner, Colin Montgomerie, then the world’s third-ranked player, waved the white flag on behalf of his peers.

“We’re all human beings here, and there is no chance humanly possible that Tiger Woods is going to lose this tournament. No way,” said Montgomerie, who had been glib but correct in questioning Woods’s major experience the previous evening.

Remember that the year before, Greg Norman, a two-time major champion and the world No. 1, blew a six-shot lead on Sunday.

The power that Woods displayed then, which left him wedges into many holes at Augusta National, eventually sparked the so-called Tiger-proofing era — the lengthening of courses to combat the distances he and other pros were hitting the golf ball. Augusta led the charge in that regard, but Woods contended and won there again and again anyway.

He may have beaten the place into submission with his brawn in that 1997 Masters, his first as a professional, but through the years his success there is owed just as much to his brain. And what we saw him do Thursday — card a 1-under 71 a little under 14 months after a horrific car crash — had nothing to do with bomb and gouge and everything to do with guts and guile.

Woods honestly believes he can win despite a severely compromised right leg and more than 500 days away from tournament golf. He does so largely because of his mind. Mind over matter when it comes to the pain that he’s in, and a golfing mind that’s more acute than everyone else’s, especially around Augusta.

“I figure once adrenalin kicks in, you get fired up and I get into my little world, I should be able to handle business,” he would tell ESPN’s Michael Eaves after his opening round.

Clad in black pants and a bright pink — fuchsia? — mock neck shirt, Woods looked determined yet cautious early. He walked slowly up the hill of the first hole, having missed his tee shot to the right, and then made a clutch par putt after missing the green short. He came up shy with approach shots on the next few holes too, either fooled by the wind or because he can’t fully load onto his right side.

Then some vintage Tiger. Spectacular pin-high iron shots on the fifth and sixth holes, the latter to set up a tap-in birdie. Short-game woes on the eighth were followed by short-game saves on the ninth, 10th and 11th. All day long, Woods never strayed far from level par.

An ugly snap-hook off the tee on 14 was the only time he griped audibly about the limb he almost lost. “Come on, leg,” he grumbled. Another time he used his driver as a walking aid. The bogey on 14 erased the beautiful birdie he’d made on the par-5 13th, but he got it back with a long birdie conversion on 16, a hole where he’s famously conjured magic before.

He capped his day with another ugly drive, low and left on 18, but again he saved par, pouring a tester into the back of the hole. A truly remarkable round in not-so-easy scoring conditions, and one that was filled with a little bit of everything. His swing looked terrific at times and short at others. He holed a bunch of important putts, but he didn’t squat to read one.

“As the round built, I was able to get into the red, got out of there, got to even par, but made two stupid mistakes at eight back-to-back. Loss of concentration there, but I fought back and for the day did end up in the red, and I’m right where I need to be,” Woods remarked, noting he hit the ball poorly during his warm-up.

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Right where he needs to be is not having shot himself out of the tournament, a distinct possibility given his lengthy absence.

His mobility, better than expected but certainly limited, presented an intriguing dynamic. Along with the stoic Louis Oosthuizen, Woods is paired with 23-year-old Joaquín Niemann for the first two rounds. The nimble Niemann is one of the game’s bright young talents who earlier this year won the Genesis Invitational, the PGA Tour stop in Los Angeles that Woods hosts. There may be no golfer on tour with his hip speed and flexibility — somewhat reminiscent of Woods 25 years ago — and upon firing an excellent 3-under 69 to best Tiger by two, he was surely off to the range with energy to burn.

What did Woods say his afternoon and evening would involve?

“Lots of ice.”

Jason Logan is the editor of SCOREGolf Magazine and is based in Toronto. He is a contributor to the Star’s Sports section. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf