An incredible sight, Tiger Woods looks like he’ll play the Masters barring setback| Opinion
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s 1:45 p.m. on the Monday before the Masters, three days before anyone hits a shot that matters, and spectators, dozens of them, are running to the practice green at Augusta National Golf Club.
A few minutes later, they are off to the practice chipping area. Some are in a full sprint. The rules say that there’s no running allowed on the golf course, but that went out the window the moment the man in the white hat, navy shirt and off-white pants, the man with the slight hitch in his step, showed up for practice for a tournament he really looks like he is going to try to play.
No one is obeying the no-running rule, and no one is enforcing it, not on this stunning day at the Masters. Tiger Woods, the 46-year-old, five-time Masters champion who thought he might lose his right leg after his awful car accident little more than 13 months ago, was back, and so were the throngs following him, cheering him on, hoping that this was just a prelude for what was unthinkable even a month ago: that Tiger would play the 2022 Masters.
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When Woods actually reached the first tee to play a practice round that was expected to go nine holes, Monday became Sunday at Augusta National. The crowds swelled at the first tee just as they do when the leaders tee off for the final round of the Masters on Sunday, 15-20 deep. It was an extraordinary sight for a practice round.
The masses followed him up the hill to where his tee shot landed, in the middle of the fairway, then to the first green, where the human traffic jam that occurs when any of the Sunday leaders leave the green to walk to the second tee was every bit the same bottleneck on this day.