It was easy to see what was up Monday afternoon on the exquisite practice range at Augusta National.
The Monster Energy bag held upright by Joe LaCava was there and then Freddie Couples hopped over to chat up his pal and former caddy.
It was obvious Tiger Woods was going out for nine holes of practice with the ageless one.
Then Justin Thomas stopped by and finally, Woods himself emerged.
The 900-pound elephant was back, not just for the Champions Dinner, he is back for real, armed to the teeth with distance, a deadly putter and some strong showings the last month or so on the PGA Tour.
Couples, the ageless one, doesn’t compete on the youngster tour any more. He’s out there with the rest of the old guys. So there he was with a huge grin on his face when he was finally reunited with Woods.
“He’s one of my best friends. I don’t see him much but as far as being around him, I just love the guy,” said Couples.
So there was the cool little band of three, not counting caddies and not counting the 30,000 or so patrons who got themselves a little nine-hole preview.
Didn’t take long for a Tiger roar. Woods stood over his ball that was long of the second green in two. He proceeded to chip it in for what looked like an eagle three.
Deafening roar.
“No matter where he goes, it’s unbelievably loud,” said J.T., who had a serious range session with his dad observing every pitch, every swing. “It’s really cool. It’s even cool here. That’s the thing about this place. There’s no other tournament you hear the roars in a practice round.”
What that crowd didn’t know is that Woods tee shot from the second hole found the large bunker that guards the right side. Woods casually dropped a ball outside the bunker and launched it at the green. Mulligan eagle.
Woods did make a real birdie at the downhill par three sixth, hit his tee shot right over the hole. Other than that, you simply have to take Freddie’s word for it.
Freddie was obviously dazzled.
“He’s hitting it long way and it looks beautiful. Today wasn’t any different than it was 10 years ago when I played with him. It was pretty awesome. He should be a factor.”
So there you have Freddie’s testimony and prediction.
Woods was the odds-on favorite last week but apparently the fellas at Westgate in Las Vegas have changed their tune.
Their latest guess, uh, make that odds, look like this:
10/1: Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas
12/1: Tiger Woods
14/1: Justin Rose
16/1: Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson
18/1: Jon Rahm, Jason Day
25/1: Paul Casey
30/1: Sergio Garcia, Hideki Matsuyama, Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood
Yeah, the 900-pound elephant is still up there, pretty close.
He’s the 900-pound elephant from Amen Corner because of what he’s done here.
How about this quick Tiger Woods Augusta resume before we go:
’95: T41 (low amateur); ’96: MC; ’97: Won; ’98: T8; ’99: T18; 2000: Fifth; ’01: Won, ‘o2: Won; ’03: T15; 04: T22;
’05: Won; ’06: T3; ’07: T2; ’08: Second; ’09: T6; ’10: T4; ’11: T4.
That performance over those years is beyond impressive. Then the bad times:
2012: T40; 2013: T4; 2014: Did not play; 2015: T17; 2016, 2017: Did not play.
Which brings us to this 82nd Masters.
Tiger has missed three of the last four tournaments. Injury doomed him to the Champions Dinner only.
Now he’s back and the buzz is enormous. He plays the first two days with Marc Leishman and Tommy Fleetwood.
There’s a 900-pound elephant lurking down there at Amen Corner.
Pass the word.
Masters Groupings For Rounds One and Two:
