Tiger Woods is again No. 1 in the world, a world he turned upside down on himself not so long ago.
Back-to-back wins at Doral and Bay Hill shot him past Rory McIlroy and established him as the undisputed favorite to win this week’s Masters. Unlike recent majors, it’s not just hype and hope this time.
The real important number isn’t really No. 1, of course. It’s No. 15 and the renewal of Woods’ quest to catch Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories, the final piece of evidence that Tiger is “back.”
“It’s been a few years,” Woods said, since he’s felt this good going into Augusta. But it can also be said that it’s been a while since Augusta felt this good about him.
Beginning with his breakout runaway win in 1997, Woods won four of his first nine Masters starts as a professional. But since 2005, when Hootie Johnson implemented the second round of major changes to Augusta National — Tiger proofing if you will — the green jacket has turned into a straitjacket for Woods.
Although he has contended in all but one (last year’s 40th-place nadir), Woods has gone seven straight starts without a win. It’s actually his longest losing streak in the Grand Slam events. Since then, he has won two British Opens, a pair of PGAs and the 2008 U.S. Open, No. 14 on the Jack checklist.
“It’s been one of those things where I’ve been close there so many times on that back nine on Sunday and I just haven’t won,” he said recently. “I’ve been in the mix. Been on the periphery and played myself into the mix. I’ve been right there with just a few holes to go and it just hasn’t happened. Hopefully this year it will be a different story, and I’ll put myself there and hopefully have Bubba (Watson) put the jacket on.”
Coincidence? Maybe not.
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
A win at Bay Hill, seen here with tournament host Arnold Palmer, helps get Tiger back to No. 1.
Ironically, Johnson was ultimately convinced to stretch out and squeeze in the golf course not because of Woods. It was after Phil Mickelson nuked a drive to the chairman’s feet as he was standing along the fairway on No. 11, the traditionally treacherous start to Amen Corner. It should also be noted that Mickelson has won twice since Woods’ last win.
The lengthening certainly hasn’t bothered Woods, but the tightening has. Old angles have disappeared with the planting of trees and the addition of a subtle cut of rough. ESPN commentator Andy North, the two-time U.S. Open champ, has studied the data and come up with a theory based on the holes with the most dramatic tree changes, seven and 11.
“If you go back and look at Tiger’s numbers, he played those two holes exceptionally well, a bunch under par, before the changes,” North pointed out. “Since the changes, the numbers are really skewed poorly compared to how good they were. Those two holes in themselves have changed the way that he’s been able to play that golf course.
“I mean, you can look back to the number of times over the last three or four years, how many times has he driven the ball in those right trees at 11 and made bad scores?” North asked. “He’s broken clubs up against the trees. He’s been a mess on that hole at times. And that used to be a hole that he just took advantage of. He drove it down there eight miles down the right. I remember him hitting 9-iron to that hole. Now he’s been playing out of the trees and making bogey.”
