Get ready, golf fans – the first major championship of the year is almost here! Clear your schedules for Sunday because there’s nothing better than a relaxing afternoon listening to Jim Nantz call the fourth round of the tournament as you lounge on your couch.
For the first time in three years, Tiger Woods will be playing in the Masters, and for the first time in awhile, it looks like he has a pretty good shot at the top of the leaderboard.
Tiger is 42 years old, and while in most sports that’s ancient, this is golf. In theory, he should have quite a few good years left, but Tiger has been battling injury for awhile. Ever since back surgeries in 2014 and 2015, he hasn’t been the Tiger who won 14 major championships. The last major he won was the U.S. Open back in 2008…that was a decade ago.
But for the last four tournaments, Tiger has gone on a pretty good run. He hasn’t re-injured his back and he’s been in the leader group more than once. He tied for second at the Valspar Championship in March and came in fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational a week later.
Tiger still holds the record for youngest player to ever win the Masters. He put on that green jacket for the first time at 21 years, 104 days old. He’s won the tournament four times, but it has been 13 years since he last put on a green jacket.
Tiger calls himself a “walking miracle” for being able to return to this level of competition after the back surgery that he had, so realistically, expectations should be pretty low. But rest assured if Tiger is in contention on Sunday, the entire sports world will be watching.
