Tiger’s life may be a car crash but his name still looms large at the Masters

Tiger Woods may be missing the Masters but his name is still on the lips of everyone at Augusta

Oliver Brown

April 09 2021 02:30 AM

Seriously, 87mph? Most reactions to the speed that Tiger Woods was driving on the suburban roads of Rancho Palos Verdes are marked not by a tone of, “There but for the grace of God, go I”, but by incredulity that he could be so kamikaze.

Given this week’s revelation that he was still accelerating at the moment of his crash on February 23, a few wags have joked that he had mistaken his Genesis SUV for a DeLorean time machine, in which Marty McFly needed to hit 88mph to go back to the future. Which, given the turmoil that has engulfed Woods for the past 13 years, might not be the worst idea.

While the case is now officially closed by the LA County Sheriff’s Department, the questions that it raises are uncomfortable. Even if Woods had been running late, how could his recklessness extend to reaching a speed excessive for an interstate, never mind a sleepy residential road?

Why did officers not feel it was necessary to obtain a warrant for blood tests, given his record for driving under the influence of prescription drugs in 2017? Did they say that they did not believe drink or drugs were a factor?

If one reported theory is that he was texting at the wheel, why did the police believe there was no need for a request for his mobile phone data?

For the average Joe, even the most persuasive lawyer would be hard-pressed to fend off allegations of recklessness which could amount to a criminal charge. It all feeds into an impression that endings are rather cleaner under US justice when you have the requisite fame.

For all that he is convalescing from multiple fractures of his right leg, throwing his golfing future into doubt, fortune has still favoured Woods to an extraordinary degree. Not only has he thwarted an overwhelming probability of death after plunging into a ravine, he has also not been subjected to the long arm of the LA law.

Victory in the 2019 Masters, despite pain so debilitating that he had to begin stretching at 4am to ease his back, had hinted at his indestructible nature. Two years on, his ability to leave the carnage of that Californian hillside behind surely confirms it.

Even in absentia, Woods’s name at Augusta has seldom been far from his rivals’ lips. Rory McIlroy marvelled at a recent visit to the stricken five-time champion’s house, where he could not help but notice that Major trophies were the only silverware he kept. Justin Thomas has become such a close friend that he has offered to assist with the invalid’s childcare arrangements and fast-food delivery. “If you’re craving McDonald’s and you want me to bring it over, dude, I’m here for you,” the world No 2 said.

Whether or not you care for Woods as a personality, his indelible impact at Augusta over the past 26 years sharpens the sense of loss for the tournament. The thank-you letter that he wrote after his debut in 1995, which describes the course as “the place where I became a man”, is still kept in the clubhouse archives. So frequent are his injuries and dramatic off-course escapades, that this is the fourth instalment in eight that Woods has been missing. His peers are only too conscious of the void, with Jordan Spieth saying: “It’s a different atmosphere when he’s teeing it up.”

The unusually regular health bulletins from Woods’s camp suggest that he is already building towards a comeback, even more improbable than the last.

As he seeks inspiration, he needs somehow to invoke the example of Ben Hogan. It is inscribed in golf folklore that Hogan, then 36, was in a near-fatal crash with a Greyhound bus on a fogbound Texas morning in 1949, but still rallied to win six more Majors, including the 1953 Masters, for which Augusta named the quaint bridge at the 12th in his honour.

Woods himself was smitten by the story, avowing in 2018 that such a recovery eclipsed anything he could accomplish. “The pain he had to endure, the wrapping of the legs, all the hot tubs, how hard it was for him to walk,” he said. “That’s one of the greatest comebacks there is, and it happens to be in our sport.”

At 45, Woods has less time on his side to stage an equivalent renaissance.

But as he absorbs the minor miracle that he is alive after his dangerous driving, the spirit of Hogan is a force that can motivate him anew.