The news we were all expecting, but hoping we’d not receive has come through. Tiger Woods has withdrawn from The Masters due to injury after he reaggravated his plantar fasciitis.
Having watched him struggle in the wind and rain on Saturday it was always likely that he’d not be able to make an appearance come Sunday but this is Tiger Woods….we never say never.
Woods’ struggles have been well documented and with the comeback, the comeback after that and the comeback after that followed by of course, the 2019 Masters win you never write him off, but the question really is now, ‘Will we ever see him again?’
Following him shuffle around Augusta National and use his irons almost as walking sticks was a tough watch. The best there ever was and perhaps ever will be, reduced to almost a sideshow. It was sad to see and no-one wants that, least of all him.
Tiger in Sunday red roaring and fist pumping – now that’s the memory we want to have, not struggling to make it up the steep inclines at The Masters.
In truth, making the cut was a huge achievement and once he saw the weather forecast and the cold front moving in, he knew already that his goose was cooked. Cold weather and injury don’t fair well together and so it proved, with Tiger finishing double, double on 15 and 16 on Saturday to leave him propping up the field on 9-over par. Not the memory we want and unfortunately Tiger was not competing, he was playing, but not to win.
That said, Tiger is still and always will be box office. He raises the profile of any event he’s in, he drives ticket sales, viewing figures and regardless of whether he’s in the mix, his group is one of the most followed at any tournament.
But this could be the end, or close to it anyway for Woods and sad as it would be to see, it would be a lot worse to see him struggle and shuffle around at tournaments just because he thinks he should.
Let’s keep the Tiger memories strong and wish him a speedy recovery.
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