While Tiger Woods’ hopes of claiming a sixth Masters title haven’t worked out this week at Augusta National, he will surely take plenty of encouragement from his four days of action.
After all, he set a new record of consecutive cuts made with 24 after a day where he not only needed to play his entire second round but five holes of the first thanks to thunderstorms delaying the start on Thursday.
While Woods followed that up with the worst Masters round of his career the day after, the pronounced limp that had become a regular sight in the latter stages of tournaments in recent years didn't resurface.
That suggests he really does have a decent chance of a run of competitive action this time, months after originally returning at the Hero World Challenge following a subtalar fusion procedure on his right ankle.
Assuming there are no injury flare-ups beyond regular aches and pains when he wakes up on Monday morning, that should mean Woods can begin plotting a schedule for the coming months.
That’s something he alluded to in his Masters press conference last Tuesday. First, Woods explained why, before The Masters, we had only seen him at the Genesis Invitational so far this year.
He said: “Well, I wasn't ready to play. My body wasn't ready. My game wasn't ready. And I thought that when I was at Hero, once a month would be a really nice rhythm. Hasn't worked out that way.”
Far from a bleak outlook, though, Woods then stressed he hoped to get his target of a tournament a month back on track, starting at The Masters. “But now we have Major championships every month from here through July," he continued. "So now the once a month hopefully kicks in.”
The next Major is the PGA Championship and that’s just around the corner, with the opening round on 13 May. That gives Woods exactly one month to prepare after The Masters, and it is likely to be next on his list of events to target.
Woods has won the PGA Championship four times, and this year it’s being held at the same venue as his 2000 triumph, Valhalla, when he won the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time. Woods also has relatively recent success at the tournament, after he finished runner-up in 2018.
Assuming next month’s edition is when we next see Woods in action, he will no doubt fancy his chances of claiming a fifth title at the Major. However, for most fans, like his appearance at The Masters, simply seeing him get around the course without obvious discomfort, and hopefully over all four days, will be enough.
