It’s tough not to have Tiger Woods at the Masters.
Every player asked about the five-time champion agreed that his absence around Augusta National can be felt this week. They shared a familiar refrain, though: Getting the help he needs after an arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence trumps anything related to golf.
Bubba Watson and Fred Couples were two that shared their thoughts Monday on Tiger, echoing one another that the human takes precedent over the golfer.
“I told him from Day 1 that we started hanging out back in ’06, ’07, somewhere in there, that I’m pulling for him as a human being, forget his golf, I could care less about his golf,” Watson said. “Anybody that’s struggling with anything, I feel for him because I’ve went through a lot of mental stuff.”
Various players provide their perspective on Tiger Woods. pic.twitter.com/CKYIECb8A9
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Couples said he empathizes with the physical pain Woods endures from surgeries he’s undergone after three decades of playing.
“How many surgeries? Ten or twelve surgeries? I don’t know any human being — let me tell you something, I used to snap at everyone. Felt like someone was tapping me on the back all day long,” Couples said. “After eight to 10 hours you just can’t take it. It’s like a toothache.”
“This guy has had surgeries. I have a bad back. I’ve gotten through that since I was 32,” Couples added. “Pain is a rough thing.”
Couples said he doesn’t expect to see Woods for a few months but was optimistic that the two would stay reconnect.
“When I text him I always ask about his kids and how he’s feeling,” he said. “I don’t ask him about his golf game. I don’t ask him about Sun Day Red. I don’t ask him about anything. He always replies and I think he likes that.”
Like Couples and Watson, Jason Day has a history with Woods that stretches more than two decades.
“I look at it and go, ‘He’s just a human being like everyone else, and we have struggles,’” Day. “It’s unfortunate. The only thing that I don’t understand is that it’s a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm’s way, as well.”
The 50-year-old Woods pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges from the rollover accident, including property damage to a trailer being hauled by a truck near his home in Florida.
“He thinks he can do almost anything, and that’s probably why he’s probably driving and a little bit under the influence,” Day said.
“It just shows the human element and the human side of someone that is struggling with some sort of an addiction,” Day added. “He’s not immune to it just because he can hit a golf ball really well. He’s had 25 to 30-something surgeries, and when you’re going through that many procedures, it’s painful coming out of those procedures.”
Woods reportedly landed in Switzerland late last week, with many speculating that he might be entering a treatment center there after getting a judge to grant him the ability to travel outside the United States and enter a comprehensive inpatient facility.
“Do I think he is in a place he needs to be? I don’t know where that is,” Couples answered a question rhetorically. “Where is he, in Switzerland? If he’s in Switzerland he must be at a spot that’s going help him and that’s the key thing.”