AUGUSTA, Ga. – When Tiger Woods won the 2005 Masters in a dramatic playoff he was asked if there was a sense of relief having ended a drought that had extended 10 Grand Slams stops, the longest major winless streak of his career at the time.
“Ten majors is not that long,” he said at the time. “Some guys go without for life.”
For Tiger it’s always been about the long game and his 10,000-foot approach has served him well, but the numerical symmetry of this week’s Masters probably feels like a lifetime. He’s played Augusta National 10 times since that victory in ’05 and is now almost 11 years removed from his last Grand Slam celebration of any kind.
If it doesn’t seem like a lifetime ago for Woods it’s certainly been a lifetime of change.
Since the last “W” for Tiger at Augusta National, Phil Mickelson has won two green jackets. Bubba Watson’s collected two, as well.
Chris DiMarco, who was the heroic understudy to Woods at the ’05 edition, has retired. Well, actually he’s moved on to the PGA Tour Champions, but it feels like retirement.
Adam Scott won a Masters by anchoring a broom-handle putter, a style now deemed illegal. Mickelson won green jacket No. 2 with two drivers in his bag, a move deemed ill-advised.
Jordan Spieth was in middle school when Woods made history in ’05. He’s since lost a Masters, won a Masters, and lost a Masters, all in dramatic fashion.
When Woods held off DiMarco nearly a decade and a half ago he was No. 1 in the world ranking. Over the scorched-earth days that followed, he plummeted to 1,199th.
He’s not the same player. He’s not even the same person.
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A combination of setbacks, both physical and otherwise, have transformed the once incomparable athlete into a curiosity, albeit with an unparalleled fan base. Although he’s largely left behind the distractions that have made the span since ’05 so wildly atypical, there is still an air of uncertainty every time he tees it up.
Jack Nicklaus once predicted that Woods would win more green jackets than he and Arnold Palmer combined (10), but the Golden Bear probably never envisioned things playing out the way they did. Woods is no longer a forgone conclusion at the year’s first major like he once was.
He doesn’t putt like he once did, he can’t overpower Augusta National the way he did in his youth, and has watched others, most notably Mickelson and Spieth, become the perennial favorites at the Masters.
“I’ve worked on my putting, and when I have, I’ve putted well. If I worked on my short game, I’ve chipped it well,” Woods said on Tuesday. “You know, I just can’t do all things all the time anymore.”
What he still has, however, is enough institutional knowledge about Augusta National to fill a “how to” guide.
It’s the countless little things that give him an edge – don’t be left off the tee at No. 2; don’t be above the hole on No. 7 – and that golf course IQ hasn’t changed. Nor has Tiger’s ability to shut out distractions waned. He’s still among the game’s most mentally tough players and at a place like Augusta National that can be worth a stroke a round.
“Throughout the years I accumulated a lot of knowledge how to play it under different conditions,” Woods said. “I know that I can play this golf course. I’ve had some success here.”
That might be understating it a bit. He’s won the Masters four times, finished second twice – including in 2007 and ’08 – and has never missed a cut as a professional. For everything that has changed since he last won at Augusta National it’s that record that suggests the march of time may not have passed him by.
After contending in the final two majors last year and closing his season with a walk-off victory at the Tour Championship, there’s no reason to think a fifth Masters title is beyond the bounds of reason.
“I just wouldn’t rule him out,” Mickelson said of Woods’ title chances this week. “I just think that greatness is still in him, and I would never rule him out.”
Before each of his first four victories at Augusta National, Woods wheeled down Magnolia Lane for the Masters having won at least once already that season. His best finish this year in a stroke-play event is a tie for 10th place at the WGC-Mexico Championship and his putting has been a particular issue.
But those day-to-day concerns of competing on the PGA Tour fall away when you consider the context of how Woods’ world, specifically at the Masters, has changed just in three years.
At the 2017 Champions Dinner, Nick Faldo said that Woods whispered to another Masters champion, “I’m done. I won’t play golf again.” For context, Woods arrived at last year’s dinner ranked 88th world and will be the highest-ranked player in the room on Tuesday night at No. 12, when the past champions gather to break bread.
“I don’t really need to win again,” Woods said on Tuesday before adding with his signature smile, “I really want to.”
And that might be the biggest thing that hasn’t changed since Woods last pulled a green jacket over his shoulders.
