Masters 2022: All the big build up to the first golf major of the year at Augusta National

‘Just giving up’s never in the equation’. And with that mindset, Tiger Woods has yet again captured the imagination of the golfing world as he contemplates a comeback at his home away from home.

Tiger Woods has spent 13 months rehabilitating.

From his greatest triumphs to his darkest hours, Tiger Woods has been able to count on Augusta National as a sanctuary where he can focus on golf before supportive spectators.

So it’s no wonder the 46-year-old US superstar, a 15-time major winner and five-time Masters champion, could be looking to make a stunning comeback under the Georgia pines next week from severe leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car crash.

“You never give up. That’s a given. You always fight,” Woods said after his 2019 Masters victory.

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Will recent Hall of Fame inductee Tiger Woods tee off at Augusta?

“Just giving up’s never in the equation.”

An 18-hole practice round by Woods on Tuesday at Augusta National to test his fitness to walk the hilly layout captured the attention and imagination of the world.

Woods had given no timetable for when he might play competitively again after saying he was lucky to have survived the California auto accident in February 2021 that hospitalised him for weeks and left him unable to walk for months.

“I’m not going to play a full schedule ever again,” Woods said last December.

“I’m going to have to pick-and-choose what events, and even then my body might not cooperate with that.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to get to where I feel like I can compete at these guys and be at a high level.”

A young Tiger won his first green jacket back in 1997.

His second title came four years later.

But his walk around Augusta National hinted that if Woods wasn’t confident in the level of his game, he wouldn’t test himself only days before the Masters.

“There’s no other tournament in the world like this, and to come back to a place that I’ve had so many great memories at and so many great times in my life, it’s always special,” Woods says of Augusta National.

Woods won his first major title at Augusta National in 1997, becoming, at 21, the youngest to don a green jacket. He did it with a then-course record of 18-under 270 to win by 12 strokes.

“Some of my best shots I’ve ever pulled off have been here,” Woods said.

“It’s just a very special place and I get excited about it.”

When his life was shattered by the late 2009 revelation of an adultery scandal that led to a divorce from wife Elin, Woods made his return to golf at the 2010 Masters and drew cheers from the crowd, easing his comeback to competition.

The massive crowd following Tiger during the final round of his 2019 success.

“I didn’t know what to expect with regards to the reception,” Woods said in 2010. “The galleries couldn’t be nicer. It was just incredible. The encouragement that I got, it blew me away to be honest with you, it really did.

“The people here over the years, I know they are extremely respectful, but today was just something that really touched my heart pretty good.”

After multiple back surgeries and fear that he might never have a pain-free life, Woods underwent a spinal fusion that enabled a 2018 comeback.

“It has been a tough road,” Woods said.

“The pain of just sitting there and the amount of times I’ve fallen because my leg didn’t work or I just had to lay on the ground for extended periods of times - those are some really dark, dark times.

“It’s a miracle. I went from a person who really had a hard time getting up, walking around, sitting down, anything, to swinging a club.”

Woods cemented his miracle return with his first major victory in 11 years at the 2019 Masters, tearfully hugging his children off the same 18th hole where he had embraced his parents after his first major triumph 25 years earlier.

Tiger anticipation hits fever pitch after Augusta sighting

Rory McIlroy says he would love to see Tiger Woods playing in next week’s US Masters, even though that would make it tougher for him to complete a career grand slam.

“It would be awesome for him to be there,” McIlroy said.

The four-time major champion from Northern Ireland is among those playing this week’s US PGA Texas Open at TPC San Antonio as a final tune-up for the year’s first major tournament at Augusta National.

Tiger Woods is eyeing a return to Augusta for the Masters.

Woods, who suffered severe right leg injuries in a February 2021 car crash, played an 18-hole practice round at Augusta National earlier this week, testing his fitness to compete for his sixth Masters crown.

Woods has not played since the 2020 Masters, moved to November due to Covid-19. He has spent 13 months rehabilitating from the crash, saying he was fortunate to still be alive and not to have had his leg amputated, but given no timetable for when he might return.

McIlroy, who needs only a Masters green jacket to complete a career Grand Slam, would love that comeback to be next week in the Georgia pines.

“I think for golf and for the Masters tournament and for everyone, to have Tiger there would be phenomenal,” McIlroy said.

“It just adds to the event. Anything Tiger Woods does in the game of golf is heightened whenever he’s there.

“He was there yesterday and he’s trying to see what he can do. Obviously no one knows but him if he can make it around and if he believes he can compete.”

Woods, 46, already completed one of the greatest comeback stories in sport by winning the 2019 Masters for his 15th career major title and first since the 2008 US Open.

Rory McIlroy would love Tiger Woods to play at Augusta.

After multiple back surgeries, Woods feared he might never recover for a normal life, but a microdiscectomy enabled him to return to competition strong enough to win a major and match Sam Snead for the all-time US PGA win record with 82 career titles.

Asked if anything Woods does can surprise him, McIlroy replied, “Yeah, everything … from basically March of 2017 fast forward two years and he wins the Masters and where he was with his body and what he had to do to get back to being somewhat healthy.

“The sheer will and perseverance, it’s incredible. If he comes back from this again, it’s just, he likes to prove people wrong. He likes to prove himself wrong, I think.”

McIlroy, whose best Masters showing was fourth in 2015, will welcome Woods back whenever he does return.

“Regardless of when he does come back, whether it’s next week or a few weeks, few months down the line, he’s a wonderful addition to the game,” McIlroy said.

“Golf is better when he’s playing and when he’s playing well.”

Originally published as Masters 2022: All the big build up to the first golf major of the year at Augusta National