Tiger Woods told reporters on Tuesday that he wouldn't have made the trip to Augusta National if he didn't believe that a Masters victory was attainable. And although the 46-year-old is still a whopping 54 holes away from pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, he didn't look unfit or unprepared to play his first 18 holes on Thursday.
Despite having his highly-anticipated tee time delayed 30 minutes due to rain, Woods' opening-round performance at The Masters was naturally astonishing. Fourteen months after nearly losing his right leg in a devastating car crash, he shot a 1-under 71 with three birdies and two bogeys. According to ESPN Stats, it was just the 11th time in Woods' career that he shot under par in a first round at Augusta. Battling pain in his surgically repaired leg, Woods persevered.
"I didn't think that Tiger Woods was going to go out there and suck -- I didn't think that he was going to lay an egg," JR said during the JR SportBrief show on Thursday. "I think if he wasn't OK, the other option would be him breaking down with an injury. And that's something nobody would want... You can't be surprised or shocked that he went out there, competed. Can't be shocked at where he ended up. Because, in reality, this is Tiger Woods.
"He's not going to go out there, make an ass out of himself. He's not going to go out there and become a caricature or a shell. That's why I think, ultimately, if we were going to have a bad instance here with Tiger Woods, unfortunately, it would've been an injury... Tiger Woods has already won, for what's he done and already accomplished... Everything after this is basically a cherry on top."
JR's complete thoughts on Woods' return at The Masters can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.