Keep expectations low for Tiger at Augusta

ByBOB HARIG
April 4, 2015, 8:41 AM

— -- Your chances of being asked to join Augusta National, to be strolling the hallowed grounds during some glorious Masters week as a member, are infinitely better than Tiger Woods leaving the premises with a fifth green jacket April 12.

That is not meant to be harsh, more a look at the big picture and the enormous expectations that the man continually sets for himself, only to be treated as an absolute failure if he doesn't meet them.

Now is not the time to be thinking about heroic comebacks or miracle short-game cures.

If the 47 holes of tournament golf this year, the aborted comebacks of 2014, and the overall lack of competition have taught us anything about Woods, it is that we are well past the point of approaching his game, his tournaments, with high hopes.

And nowhere is that more the case than at Augusta National in the coming days.

Woods finally decided on Friday that he would play the Masters, where he will end a nine-week stretch in which he didn't hit a single competitive golf shot, pledging not to return until his game was tournament ready.

Whether that is the case will be the subject of debate as the year's first major championship unfolds, but given the various starts and stops, difficulty we witnessed in Phoenix and San Diego and reports on the status of his game, to think that Woods will be in the mix next weekend is folly.

Golf simply doesn't work that way, especially given the struggles Woods has endured for some 18 months.

"The biggest difference with Tiger and the rest is a guy can show up on the West Coast not playing well but needing to play and be reasonably anonymous," said ESPN golf analyst and 13-time PGA Tour winner Paul Azinger. "Tiger cannot be anonymous. Every single shot he takes is documented and that's a whole 'nother animal, too. He really does deal with a lot."

Augusta National will be no different. There will be a referendum on every shot, every hole. His pitching and chipping will be scrutinized down to the height of the tightly-mown grass. If he misses a fairway, call an ambulance.

But really, how good does anyone think Woods should be at the Masters?

The last time he played well in a tournament was at the 2013 World Challenge, where he lost in a playoff to Zach Johnson. Prior to that, he had finished third at a European Tour event in Turkey. He had a solid Presidents Cup, won the WGC-Bridgestone. Again, that's in a timeframe of 16 to 18 months ago.

Since? A missed 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines. A lackluster showing in Dubai. A withdrawal with back pain at the Honda Classic. Barely making it to a tie for 25th at Doral. Back surgery. A three-month layoff. Perhaps a too hasty return that included a missed cut, a tie for 69th at the Open Championship, another injury withdrawal, a missed cut at the PGA Championship and another long break.

Woods returned at the World Challenge in December with a new, free swing but also added chipping problems that were considered an aberration. When those issues had not been fixed in January and he shot his career-worst score of 82, it called for another reassessment.

There have been various leaked reports about his game at the Medalist, his home course, and in two trips to Augusta National in the past week, some promising, others not nearly so.

Golfweek reported that Woods kept score in his Tuesday Augusta practice round and shot 74 with five birdies and some spotty chipping. That means Woods had 13 holes in which he was 7 over par. It's just one round, but ...

Then there is Augusta National itself, one of the most difficult courses in the world around the greens. The tight lies, the brutally fast greens, the slopes -- all of that can make for trying chip shot nerves in the best of circumstances.

"We alluded to embarrassment, and it's something that you fight every time you go out there,'' Azinger said. "You never want to do anything stupid, but when you're playing great, those stupid things don't pop in your head. And he's got to out and probably exorcise some of those demons. The first little pitch shot he's got to hit, not chip shot, the first little pitch shot he's got to hit will be micro-analyzed and he knows that. There's a big microscope on that guy ... This is a tough first place to start."

If Woods plays well at Augusta, that is a bonus, but nobody should think that is going to happen. If he plays poorly, it really means little. Why would anyone think he'll play well?

As Azinger suggested, there are no minor-league rehab starts for golfers, no place to compete at a lower level, without all the fanfare. There is no snapping of the fingers, no magic potions. Woods will need time, at least a few tournaments or more, before he can truly be assessed with fairness.

That won't stop it from happening anyway at Augusta where another step in this recent odd journey will take place.