AUGUSTA, Ga. – It will have been 579 days.
Five-hundred and 79 days since Tiger Woods slipped into a green jacket for the fifth time in his career in a blaze of emotional glory that resonated across sports and society.
Five-hundred and 79 days since the sports world cast its gaze on Augusta National and the game’s undisputed cathedral of major championship golf delivered, just like it always does.
“It’s not how I wanted to retain the jacket, for this long,” Woods admitted ahead of his delayed title defense. “Obviously this has been an unprecedented circumstance we’re all dealing with.”
Unprecedented seems to fall flat when it comes to the last 579 days, the span of time between the end of the last Masters Tournament and the beginning of this one.
During that time, Woods tied Sam Snead for the all-time PGA Tour victory mark with his triumph last fall in Japan and then he missed a handful of spring starts with aches and pains.
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But that felt normal. A cycle that, at 44 years old, is as familiar as rinse and repeat. One of those no-shows was The Players Championship in March because his “back simply was just not ready.” Headlines projected how his limited schedule would impact Tiger’s title defense at the April Masters.
It all seems so silly now.
We never got the chance to see Woods at the April Masters. Golf joined every other sport in the shadows as COVID-19 altered every aspect of life, and on March 13 officials postponed the Masters.
“We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date,” club chairman Fred Ridley said at the time.
It was an impressively optimistic decision considering the circumstances and even those who would benefit the most from a fall Masters were doubtful.
“I think everything was up in the air at one point. I think when The Open Championship was canceled, I had serious doubts that we’d play a Masters this year in 2020,” Rory McIlroy said.
Before golf and the PGA Tour blazed a trail back to competition in June it was hard for most to imagine how the ’20 Masters would be played. How could it be played?
When the R&A pulled the plug on The Open Championship those odds dwindled even more. When the PGA of America canceled the Ryder Cup, largely because a Ryder Cup without fans really isn’t a Ryder Cup at all, there were those who argued that a Masters without patrons ... well, you get it.
Of everything that will be missed this week – the Par 3 Contest, the azaleas, the spring tradition – it will be the absence of patrons that will define the 2020 edition. Although golf, even major championship golf, has carried on without fans, this will be different. The roars, the awed reactions, the rattled pine trees are all part of the action at Augusta National.
“I don’t know if it’s the look that I’ll miss or if it’s the atmosphere, it’s the buzz, it’s the excitement, it’s the anticipation,” McIlroy said.
Every great moment at Augusta National is framed by the patrons, from Woods’ victory last year to Jack Nicklaus’ final triumph in 1986. It won’t be the same and that was immediately obvious on Tuesday when Jon Rahm skipped his tee shot across the water on the par-3 16th hole for a hole-in-one that was largely celebrated in silence.
Most players didn’t participate in the annual tradition at No. 16. What’s the use without anyone to entertain?
“Sunday we were going to skip shots and we had a group of members behind us, and they were on the 15th green, so we didn’t feel the need to hold them up,” Justin Thomas said. “Then [Monday] Tiger and [Fred Couples] didn’t really want to and I kind of do whatever they say around this place.”
Sigh.
But then many of us are good with the new normal. Tour golf without fans is still Tour golf and the Masters without patrons is still the Masters. Fixating on what this week won’t be ignores how many hurdles had to be cleared for what it will be.
Six months ago, there were few who believed that Augusta National could pull off its first November Masters and yet at 6:50 a.m. ET Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player will set out as honorary starters just like they have for years.
“It’s been a collective effort. The PGA Tour has worked with Augusta National, with R&A, with the USGA and PGA of America,” McIlroy said. “If anything, it’s made the game, at least at the top level, a little more cohesive. I think the different organizations are working together and working better together, and that’s a good thing for the game going forward.”
There are plenty of reasons to be thankful for the November Masters. The iconic course is still emerald green and the players still covet the green jacket. They don’t need the cheers of patrons to tell him how important this moment is.
“For us to be able to have the ability to have this event and play this event early in the year, we weren’t looking like we were going to have this opportunity,” Woods said. “The fact that we had an opportunity to be able to play; the fact that we are going off two tees, I think it’s irrelevant. The fact that we have the opportunity to be able to play and compete for the Masters again, is an awesome opportunity.”
When Tiger tees off early Thursday it will have been 579 strange days since he last hit a meaningful shot at Augusta National. So much has changed but somehow this Masters makes things feel oddly normal.