This year’s Masters will be Tiger Woods-less, and it’s anyone’s guess when—or if—he’ll play again after recently rupturing his achilles.
Predicting what comes next isn’t an easy task.
“Boy, that’s a loaded question,” ESPN golf analyst Andy North said in a conference call Monday when asked about Woods’s future.
However, North, a two-time U.S. Open champion, revealed one thing that may be keeping the 49-year-old Woods on the course in the twilight of his career—and it's bigger than a trophy.
“I’ve got to believe that—deep down in my heart, he is one of the great competitors of all time, but if he didn’t have any children, I don’t know if he’d be playing now,” said North, who joined ESPN in 1992. “I think one of the reasons he’s worked so hard after the accident was because it gave him a great opportunity to spend so much time with Charlie [Woods] and play golf with his son, and watch Charlie get better.
“He made a comment to me one time is that there are days Charlie comes home from school and embarrasses me into going and play nine holes late in the afternoon with him. I think that’s something that’s so special.”
But after all Woods has endured, just getting to a point where he can play a casual round with his son wasn’t easy, let alone playing on the PGA Tour and in major championships. (Woods hasn't made an official start on Tour since the 2024 British Open.)
“Now we’re getting to the point that this next rehab is going to be brutally difficult for him,” North said. “He doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody. He’s done everything he needed to do. If he were to announce in the next month or two that, ‘You know what, I’m never playing competitive golf again.’ I think that would be great, and no one would have an issue with that.
“I think that the competitor in him—you know, you always think you can rehab. You always think you can come back. You always believe that you can do this. But I don’t have any magic answers there. I would think that he’s going to try to play some events after this rehab. Is it going to be a Tiger Woods that can compete? Deep in my heart, I don’t think so.”
Woods, though, is still a transcendent voice off the course. And as the years go on, nobody would say a peep if he decided to tee it up at Augusta National annually with his lifetime exemption as a past champion. Arnold Palmer played the Masters until he was 74. Jack Nicklaus ended his run at 65. Nobody expected them to seriously contend in their senior years, but it didn’t matter, just seeing them play was good enough.
Woods has said he would stop playing if he no longer had a chance to win, but two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange believes it would be beneficial for the sport if the 15-time major champion kept his toes in the game, regardless of his form.
“These great players, superstars, always talked about they never want to be a ceremonial player or something to that effect, like it’s a negative,” said Strange, who also does analysis for ESPN. “I want to see him at Augusta for a long time in the future playing. He’s not going to play the way he wants to, but I think the people would love to see him, much like they saw Jack and Arnie, especially Arnie, for a long time.
“I think we need those people around, to be around the younger generation, to answer questions, to—players learn by example, how to play golf courses. Just be part of the elder statesman society."
But like many, Strange is unsure when Woods will shelve his clubs for good—if he hasn’t already.
“I hope he gets back to where he can play,” Strange said. “We don’t even know if he can play ever again. It’s going badly.
“But especially here, where he can come back and be comfortable and just be around. The people can’t get enough of him. We can’t get enough of him. It would be sad that he wouldn’t come back here and play in the future, but what the future holds, we have no idea."
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Explains Why He Believes Tiger Woods Still Plays Despite Uncertain Future.
