It’s hard to believe: after weeks of speculation and days of hoping, Tiger Woods actually made his commitment to the US Masters 2022. He completed his first round with a score of 1-under-par and is visibly satisfied with it. In this interview, he talks about the ups and downs before and during his round.
Tiger, what are you happiest with, and what are you most disappointed with?
I’ll start off with disappointment. Just making bogey from 50 yards on the 8th. Lack of concentration on the first one. Second one, lack of commitment. Then a blocked putt. So just three bad shots in a row.
But as far as the good stuff, to finish in the red today after as long a layoff as I’ve had and not being in competitive golf – I don’t really consider a scramble in the PNC – it is competitive, but it’s not like this. This is totally different.
But to play this golf course and to do what I did today, to make – to hit the shots in the right spots – I know where to hit it to a lot of these pins, and I miss in the correct spots and give myself good angles. I did that all day, and I was able to make a few putts and end up in the red like I am now.
I’m only three back. We’ve got a long way to go. This golf course is going to change dramatically – cooler, drier, windier. You can hear the SubAirs on out there. This golf course is going to change, and it’s going to get a lot more difficult.
How are you feeling compared to how you expected to feel?
I am as sore as I expected to feel, but it was amazing to have – like I was telling the team all week, come game time, it will be a different deal. My adrenaline will kick in. I’ll get into my own little world, and I’ll get after it. It’s about the training that we’ve done to have the stamina to go.
I’m going to be sore, yes. That’s just the way it is. But the training cycles that we’ve had to make sure that I have the stamina to keep going – and this is only one round. We’ve got three more to go. There’s a long way to go and a lot of shots to be played.
Tiger, after so long away, did it feel like business as usual once you got to the 1st tee, or did you kind of have to get into the mindset of competition again?
No, it was – you know, I was alluding to in there, I had a terrible warmup session. I hit it awful. I went back to what my dad always said. Did you accomplish your task in the warmup? It’s a warm up. Did you warmup? Yes, I did. Now go play. That’s exactly what I did, I went and played.
I forgot whatever I did on the range and just go ahead and play shot for shot, hit the ball in the correct spot, commit to what I’m doing, leave myself in the right angles, hopefully make a few putts, and let’s get after this thing. Yeah, I was able to do that.
I was able to finish up in the red. I’m only three back. I’m right where I need to be.
In that shot from the pine straw on 14, do you have to convince yourself you can pull that off? Or are you just so in the mindset that health-wise there’s no trouble doing that?
I was going to pull it off. I was going to hit – I had a gap. I had a window. I was going to hit it. The next shot was not very good. I tried to bump around a 4-iron through there and hit it way too hard. I give it a little extra juice because it was into the wind, and I made a mistake and hit too hard and misread the putt just a touch.
The challenge of walking the course, did it get harder, or was it —
No, it did not get easier, let’s put it that way. I can swing a golf club. The walking’s not easy, and it’s difficult. As I said with all the hard work, my leg, it’s going to be difficult for the rest of my life. That’s just the way it is, but I’m able to do it.
That’s something I’m very lucky to have this opportunity to be able to play, and not only that, to play in the Masters and to have this type of reception.
I mean, the place was electric. I hadn’t played like this since ’19 when I won because in ’20 we had COVID and we had no one here, and I didn’t play last year. So to have the patrons fully out and to have that type of energy out there was awesome to feel.
Tiger, can you overstate what you accomplished today, a round in the red after your layoff and your injury? Can you put into words what you just did?
Not easy (laughter). People have no idea how hard it’s been. My team does. They’ve worked with me every single day. I’ve said this before, we haven’t taken a day off since I got out of the bed after those three months.
Granted, some days are easier than others. Some days we push it pretty hard, and other days we don’t. But always doing something.
So it’s commitment to getting back and commitment to getting back to a level that I feel that I can still do it. I did something positive today.
What part of your game needs more time? What have you just not been able to get up to the standard that you need more time?
Just hitting more golf balls, just working on my game. I can chip and putt, but it’s going out there and hitting like – you know, like all these young kids, like I used to. Go out and hit a ball for four or five hours, go out and hit a thousand golf balls a day. That doesn’t happen anymore.
I can’t do that anymore, and I have to rely on, okay, pick one thing to work on, and hopefully that works out today. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to work on it again, and sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes it may be two or three days before I’ll be able to work on it again. We’ll just try and keep progressing, keep picking it off.
But in the meantime, if you can’t hit balls, let’s keep that body getting stronger. Let’s keep getting it as mobile as possible given the circumstances that I have and keep working at it.
Tiger, I realize you only define victory one way and that’s winning the tournament, but was this the equivalent of a victory to you, just showing up and being able to compete like you did?
Yes.
Why? Why does it feel that way to you?
If you would have seen how my leg looked to where it’s at now, the pictures – some of the guys know. They’ve seen the pictures, and they’ve come over to the house and they’ve seen it. To see where I’ve been, to see – to get from there to here, it was no easy task.
Tiger, what will you go through over the next 18 hours or so to get yourself prepared for the second round? What’s your treatment like?
A lot. A lot. Lots of treatments. Lots of ice. Lots of ice baths. Just basically freezing myself to death. That’s just part of the deal. And getting all the swelling out as best as we possibly can and getting it mobile and warmed up, activated and explosive for the next day. Those are two totally different ends of the spectrum.
Most sports, if you’re not feeling very good, you got a teammate to pass it off to, and they can kind of shoulder the load. Or in football, one day a week. Here we’ve got four straight days, and there’s no one that’s going to shoulder the load besides me. I’ve got to figure out a way to do it.
My team’s been incredible at getting me into this position so that I can compete. I’ll take it from there. I know how to play. I’ve just got to get out there where I can play.