Tiger Expects Recent Hard Work to Pay Off


Tiger Woods didn't expect to play in the 2015 Masters without some internal assurances that he was ready to compete again with the best players in the world. After all, the four-time green jacket winner has experienced a uncharacteristically dismal year, with all parts of his once-vaunted game in serious disarray.

Woods hasn't played on the PGA Tour since February 5. After suffering stiffness in his surgically repaired back, he withdrew on the 12th hole in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. The week before, he completed is last full competitive round, a 10-over 82 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he missed the 36-hole cut by a whopping 12 strokes.

But Woods, who last week fell out of the top-100 in the world rankings for the first time since a month into his pro career, feels like all the hard work he's put in over the past two months will come to fruition this week at the 79th Masters.

"I worked my ass off," Woods told reporters Tuesday at Augusta National Golf Club. "That's the easiest way to kind of describe it. I worked hard.

"People would never understand how much work I put into in to come back and do this again," he noted. "But it was sun-up to sundown, and whenever I had free time; if the kids were asleep, I'd still be doing it, and then when they were in school, I'd still be doing it. So it was a lot of work."

Most alarming to observers was Woods' sudden loss of touch around the greens. But after a practice round Monday, he told reporters, "Chipping is fine. I wanted to test out some wedges out here. That was why I was chipping a little bit more. It came down to a couple different bounce settings because it's different from Florida. We figured the right one out."

Woods said Tuesday that after hours and hours of practice, he's finally found some answers. "It was a slow and steady progression each and every day. When the sun came up, by the time the sun set, I should be a better player than I was in the morning, and that was the case. We don't need to make big, giant leaps or anything like that, but just incrementally get better.

"There were times when there were a few clubs that flew, suddenly slipped out of my hand and traveled some pretty good distances, too. There were some frustrating moments, but had to stick with it. I just kept working, shot for shot, hour after hour. I feel like my game is finally ready to compete at this level, the highest level, and I'm excited to be here."

Woods, whose last Masters title came in 2005 and the most recent of his 14 career majors came at the 2008 U.S. Open, will make his first appearance in front of a gallery at Augusta with his two children - daughter Sam, 7, and son Charlie, 6 - at Wednesday's Par 3 Contest. He'll be playing in that family-friendly event for the first time since 2004.

Because of back surgery, Woods didn't play in last year's Masters, which was won for the second time in three years by Bubba Watson. Woods' playing partner during Monday's practice round, good friend and 1998 green jacket winner, Mark O'Meara, told reporters that Woods might surprise some people.

"The thing about the kid is you can never underestimate Tiger Woods," O'Meara said. "He has a great passion. I'm a huge fan, friend. I care about him. It was good to be out there with him today. I saw some good signs. I thought I saw some good signs, to be honest with you, when he played his tournament in Orlando [in December], even though he didn't play well.

"I like what he's doing. I like what he and Chris [Como, Woods' instructor] are doing. His pitching looks a lot better. He's worked really hard on it. There's a lot of pressure on him; there has been his whole life. But if he swings the way he is capable of swinging and pitches and rolls the putter, there's no reason why he can't have a good week."

But three-time champion Nick Faldo threw out a cautionary note on Monday. "We're all waiting with bated breath what Tiger is bringing," said Faldo, now the golf analyst for CBS Sports who will be in the tower above the 18th green with lead announcer Jim Nance.

"He's got to believe he's got a bit more game than that. This is not the place. These are the toughest chipping areas, but off perfect lies, anywhere in the world . . . It's all nerve. That's what the Masters is. It's nerve. It's the most nerve-wracking golf course."

Yet O'Meara has confidence in Woods, a 79-time winner on the PGA Tour. "He'll be nervous on Thursday. We all are," O'Meara said. "And under the gun it's always a little bit different. But never underestimate Tiger Woods."