The 2024 Tiger Woods playing at the Masters Tournament and the 1997 Tiger Woods, who won the Masters, seem like two different people altogether. The golf legend struggled heavily during the major in a course he has played in plenty of times. He was only making his second start of the season and displayed glimpses of his old self until round two when he finally made the 24th cut at the Masters Tournament to play the Saturday round.
But soon after that, his form dropped in the third round, and he ended with 10-over 82. On Sunday, Woods tried to play a bit better and finished with 77. His gameplay in the third and last round made him finish last on the leaderboard and this was a matter of huge dismay for the player. According to Tiger Woods’ former rival, Colin Montgomerie, the fifteen-time major winner should have bid goodbye to professional golf way earlier.
He said in a report, “I just wish Tiger had gone after he waved on that Swilken bridge at St Andrews a couple of years ago…He’s kept going, he thinks he can do it but it’s quite obvious now physically and mentally, that he can’t.”
Montgomerie stressed how it’s impossible to go on with such physical condition, but Tiger Woods, being adamant, pushed himself anyway.
“He’s competing once a month and it’s not enough. You can’t play once a month and hope to contend with these guys now. He finished the tournament 82-77. It’s not close, obviously and I wish he’d waved goodbye to the golfing word a couple of years ago. He did wave goodbye at the end when he took his hat off.”
It’s very visible to the golf world at this point that Tiger Woods’ Masters record nowhere matches his present performance, which means the player is struggling physically, and his ailments have only grown with time.
Tiger Woods’ Health Issues Slowed Him Down Despite His Exceptional Masters Record
Tiger Woods’ 2021 accident took a toll on the golfer’s health, after which he underwent several surgeries and then came back at the 2022 Masters, where he settled for the 47th position. He participated in the major next year but had to withdraw before the weekend due to a reaggravated plantar fasciitis. The golf God then made a comeback at the Hero World Challenge last year and tried to shake off a little rust until the PNC Championship, where he tied for fifth place with his son Charlie.
Woods even went on to promise to play one tournament a month for this season, which didn’t happen. He ended up missing several signature events to finally play at the Genesis Invitational, but had to withdraw from that too due to flu-like symptoms. And when he finally decided to play at Augusta National, he ended up last on the leaderboard.
Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters victory is probably the best comeback in sports history. But watching him play like that seems like a distant dream. And as pointed out by his former colleague, maybe it’s time for the golfer to put down the club and focus on his health.
