Tiger Woods is all set to make his 26th Masters appearance. With the Masters Tournament lingering right around the corner, the 5X Masters Champion has taken it upon himself to “scout” the luscious greens of the Augusta National Golf Course this weekend.
This seems to be the 82-time PGA Tour winner’s attempt to better prepare for the first major of the season after a series of withdrawals and low performances since his comeback from his prolonged hiatus. After a compromised performance at the Genesis Invitational in the capacity of both host and player quoting Influenza, and an unexpected appearance at the Seminole Pro-Member, the 2024 Masters is Mr. Woods’s best shot to re-establish himself at the top of the golf world hierarchy.
However, considering his long pattern of sudden WDs, failure to play one event a month as promised, and lingering health struggles, the poll of public opinion seems to be ruling against the talented 48-year-old. So much so that the news of his preparatory attempts at Augusta National has not received an enthusiastic reaction from the patrons of “The Grandaddy of Them All [Majors].”
Yes, you read that right. Despite Woods’s attempts to make a resurgence after a continued absence, most of the patrons seem to have lost hope in the once-most trusted player in the game. But why is the GOAT being met with such wide criticism online?
Netizens react to news of Tiger Woods’s scouting ahead of Masters
In recent times, Tiger Woods has gotten a reputation for frequent WDs at professional events. What started at the Masters Tournament last season seems to have replicated itself several times since. A clear observation of this pattern was at the 2024 Genesis Invitational when Mr. T decided to bow down on Friday after scoring 1 over through six holes. Due to this longstanding pattern, driven by his health status and poor performance, many disappointed fans are expecting him to withdraw at the first major of the season as well. One fan bluntly wrote, “He’s scouting, after which round is the best time to WD.”
When the news of Woods scouting the Augusta National Golf Course came to light, he was met with wide skepticism. One of the fans quoted the fact that this is his 26th appearance on the course and posed the million-dollar question, “He hasn’t seen it enough?” After all, Woods is a 5-time Masters winner, so it makes sense why fans would be rendered in this confusion. However, the flip side to this could be traced back to the star’s attempt at preparing himself for the major with the highest stakes.
Along with the WD curse that the GOAT brings with himself is his inability to finish most starts since being injured. Thus, his ability to complete the events in which he competes in the future has been questioned recently. A well-wishing fan thereby sent a hopeful message Woods’s way, however, this also conveyed another shade of wide distrust in the golfer’s abilities post-hiatus among fans. They wrote, “Hopefully 4 rounds!”
Around the end of last year, when Tiger Woods made his comeback at the Hero World Challenge, he promised to appear in at least one event per month for the then-upcoming year. However, standing close to April 2024, it seems that Mr. Woods has not been able to abide by his promise and has, thus, faltered in playing back-to-back events. In fact, the Masters would be his first official performance after the Genesis Invitational and the very exclusive Seminole Pro-Member. Thus, tracking back on this broken promise, a fan wrote, “So much for the “once a month” events.”
