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At first, it seemed as though Tiger Woods playing a few practice rounds at Augusta was as good as it would get.

Golf’s majors don’t need a dramatic storyline to ramp up interest, least of all the Masters, but Tiger’s presence sent the sporting world into a frenzy in the days leading up to the tournament.

His 2019 victory remains one of the greatest comeback stories of the decade, and will never be forgotten. Simply put, though, just teeing off later today is a truly remarkable achievement.

The sport’s most famous figure was involved in a single-vehicle accident on February 23 of last year. Questions can be asked about the treatment he received in the wake of that crash, but not of his dedication to get back on the course.

Below via The Telegraph:

…Woods, 46, encountered “a setback” following his appearance in the PGA Tour’s father-and-child event in late December and the after-effects he suffered convinced his medics that playing here in the season’s opening major was “unthinkable”.

A source said: “He played great with Charlie in Florida [they finished second] but his right leg reacted badly afterwards and that was concerning because Tiger used a buggy in that two-day event. The effects he suffered meant that nobody close to him gave him a prayer of, just a few months later, teeing it up at Augusta.”

Rory McIlroy, who played a round with Tiger last month, labelled his return “an incredible comeback for a person that we didn’t know would make it through that night”.

That night being the crash that almost resulted in his leg being amputated, with fears that he wouldn’t survive at all:

If he was lucky to escape that wreckage with his life then his fortune was yet more pronounced when it came to the surgeons rescuing his leg. “Humpty is glued back together and hopefully good enough,” Woods said on Wednesday.

It’s good to see that he’s leaned into his latest nickname, ‘Humpty Dumpty’.

His win-at-all-costs attitude has seen him talk up chances of being in the hunt for a 16th major come Sunday. Realistically, making the cut and finishing a fourth round on Sunday would constitute a major win.

A few numbers to help put things into perspective:

I should add that he’s currently ranked 994th in the world.

Louis Oosthuizen will have a front-row seat from which to enjoy the action, teeing off with Tiger and Joaquin Niemann at 10:34AM (4:34PM South African time).

While you wait, get started on HBO’s excellent four-hour-long docuseries, Tiger.

[source:telegraph]