Tour Confidential Masters Preview: Who’s going to sizzzle, who’s going to fizzle, and can Tiger actually win?
GOLF.com conducts a weekly roundtable with writers from Sports Illustrated and GOLF Magazine. Check in every Sunday night for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.
1. It’s Masters week(!), and this year there might be more juicy storylines than players in the field. We’ll lead with the obvious one: Four months ago we were saying a “win” for Tiger Woods would be just to get through four injury-free rounds in the Bahamas. Now, he has finished top 12 in his last three starts and is one of the betting favorites at Augusta. Have you seen enough positive signs from Woods to make you believe he can slip on his fifth green jacket this week?
Josh Sens, contributing writer, GOLF (@JoshSens): Tiger as a betting favorite is irrational exuberance and bears no relation to his true statistical chances. At this point, I think it’s pretty clear that he can win but I would wager heavily against it. There’s just too much depth in the field. The caveat is that I’ve been so wildly incorrect in my Tiger predictions that if you believe anything I’ve said about him you probably also believe Mexico was going to pay for the wall.
Dylan Dethier, associate editor, GOLF.com (@dylan_dethier): This puts me on the other side of Sens and the Vegas sharks and may make me a sucker, but I’m expecting a surgical, dialed-in week from Tiger. This is no dress rehearsal. He won’t be playing golf swing. The qualities that took him through the most dominant stretch in golf’s history are still in there somewhere, and we’re going to see ’em. He’s my pick to win.
Jessica Marksbury, senior editor, GOLF.com (@Jess_Marksbury): Dylan, yes! I’m with you all the way. Tiger’s whole demeanor seems different this time around. He’s dropped that helpless, pained air of frustration that plagued him in prior comebacks. This version of Tiger is focused, grinding and wants in on the hunt. And the most wonderfully unexpected thing is, he’s capable of getting there and actually doing it. At his worst and most downtrodden, he’s proven he can contend at Augusta. Based on what we’ve seen since December, why wouldn’t he be the favorite this time around?
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, GOLF (@AlanShipnuck): You have to hit more drivers at Augusta National than any other major championship venue, and Tiger has been defensive and ineffective with that club. He still seems uncomfortable trying to hit a draw with the big stick, and that is a crucial shape at ANGC. Think about how much Tiger will be giving up off the tee to Dustin, Rory, JT and others – the rest of Woods’s game would have to be that much better to beat them. It’s a big ask for a guy who hasn’t won a Masters in 13(!) years.
[tile:14103917]
Jeff Ritter, digital development editor, GOLF.com (@Jeff_Ritter): Tiger’s comeback has been incredible and it really is astonishing that we’re here discussing his chances to win at Augusta. He’s already shown he can now contend with the Tour’s best. But win? Not yet. I’m old enough to remember the Woods of 2013, when he ascended to No. 1 in the world but never connected four rounds in the majors. It always looked like he wanted it too badly, and he never played his best under pressure on the weekends. I like Woods for a solid top 10 this week, but no jacket. With continued good health, 2019 might be his year, though.
The Midnight Troubadour
Tough and timeless, this polo is built for the long ride. Featuring a crisp, non-collapsing collar and a rugged, stretchy fabric, it's the perfect shirt for any cowboy's wardrobe.
Sean Zak, associate editor, GOLF.com (@sean_zak): Tiger definitely can, mainly because of that incredible putter and short game. He never lost his ball-striking and the driver seems like it will come and go throughout the rest of his career. But at Augusta, those tight lies and slippery greens seem very manageable for Tiger in his current form.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, GOLF: There are 30 players who I think would have a better chance to win than Tiger. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t contend, but to win right now, nearly 10 years after his last major and five years after his last Tour win, is asking too much.
John Wood, caddie for Matt Kuchar (@johnwould): Before his last few events, I wouldn’t have thought much of Tiger’s chances at Augusta this year. I just assumed there would be quite a bit of tournament rust, and no matter how much he practiced at home, tournament golf is different. His performances at the Valspar and Honda changed my mind completely. His short game and putting have been vintage Tiger, and for someone who has experience and good memories at Augusta, that is everything. I have no reason to believe he won’t play well enough to contend.
2. Where would a Tiger win rank among his career accomplishments?
Sens: That’s a high bar but how could it be anything but his most astounding? I’d be eager to hear his answers to the inevitable questions about how satisfied he is to have “proved the doubters wrong.”
Dethier: This is tricky to answer because it would only be significant because of his past accomplishments, if that makes sense. I think ’97 and ’00 outrank for shock and awe. This would take the cake in terms of sheer improbability. Regardless, we’re getting out over our skis a bit here.
GOT MASTERS FEVER? ENTER OUR FREE FANTASY CONTEST, WIN AMAZING PRIZES!
Ritter: If Woods wins the Masters, it would complete the greatest comeback story in the history of sports. Overstating it? When you consider the injuries, the sex scandal, the DUI, the complete and total fall from grace … what athlete in history, in any sport, has fallen further and then managed to climb back to the top of their sport? I’ll hang up and listen.
Shipnuck: I think you’re actually understating the case, Ritter.
Bamberger: Actually, Alan, I think you are understating the case.
Zak: It would rank below the Tiger Slam, if only because that seems like an impossible thing these days. But it would be the next best thing in my opinion. We’re talking a human body we never thought could return to a healthy golf state, not to mention a passable swing, both off the tee and around the green. Then the mind to bring it all together in the game’s greatest place? Legendary doesn’t do it justice.
Marksbury: I’m with you. Not only would it be the greatest win of his career, it would be the most outrageously unexpected and celebrated comeback in sports, period.
Wood: I don’t know how to answer this. His past accomplishments and where he took the game in his prime are unassailable. He played the game at the highest level it has ever been played. For me, his winning this week would be impossible to quantify until I saw it. I can’t even gauge how I would feel if I saw him coming up the 18th on Sunday winning a fifth green jacket.
3. Bubba, Rory and Phil have ended their winless droughts, DJ is playing Augusta for the first time as World No. 1 and Justin Thomas has won four times since last April. This 82nd Masters certainly isn’t short on narratives. What non-Tiger subplot are you most excited to see unfold this week?
Sens: The general theme of old guard vs. young guns is compelling in its own right. But to pick something more specific, I’d say Rory, with his game rounding into shape just in time for him to have a crack at completing the career grand slam. That’s a great threadline, especially wh