Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National earlier this week with the intention of competing for and capturing a record-tying sixth green jacket at The Masters. And although the 46-year-old still needs to play 54 more holes to accomplish the goal, his highly-anticipated return to the golf course on Thursday couldn't have been more impressive.
Fourteen months after nearly losing his right leg in a serious car crash, Woods shot a remarkable 1-under 71 with three birdies and two bogeys in his opening round at the Masters. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was just the 11th time in his career that he shot under par in a first round at Augusta. Despite playing with pain in his surgically repaired leg, Woods sure didn't look like a pro who'd been away from competitive golf for 508 grueling days.
"If we get to Sunday and he's in the hunt, that's where things are going to get so interesting. And it could be record-breaking television," Woods biographer and longtime author Armen Keteyian told The DA Show on Friday. "He gets to the back-nine on Sunday at the Masters and he's in the hunt, anywhere near the lead, it's going to be must-see TV, for sure. I'm not big on looking too far down the line with Tiger. If I had to guess, you build to these moments.
"He's so into the Green Berets with his dad, and the missions he went on with the Navy SEALs, and things like that. This is almost like a SEAL mission to him. This is one of those moments that he trained for with the SEALs. Do you go out again after you've just done a four-day operation, which this sort of falls into that category... I'm going to sit back and enjoy this. Because odds are, there's not going to be something like this that comes along again very soon."
Woods sustained serious injuries in a single-car crash in February 2021, near Los Angeles. He suffered open fractures to his lower right leg, and had a rod inserted in his tibia and screws and pins inserted in his foot and ankle during emergency surgery. The last time Woods had played in a PGA Tour event was 17 months ago, when he finished tied for 38th at the 2020 Masters.
Fortunately for Woods, he's been given close to 24 hours to recover and rest, as his second-round tee time is 1:41 p.m. ET on Friday. Before the tournament began, the William Hill Sportsbook listed Woods as a 40-to-1 shot to win. Now, the odds are 35-to-1. If he somehow captures a sixth green jacket on Sunday, he'll be tied with legend Jack Nicklaus for the most all-time.
The entire Woods conversation between Keteyian and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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