Tiger Woods had a transcending impact on the game of golf when he burst onto the scene in the mid-1990s and his win at the 1997 Masters signalled the start of a completely new era in professional golf.
Woods won The Masters by a record 12 strokes 28 years ago, as he announced himself to the professional golf scene.
Since then, he has gone on to win 14 more majors, to leave him just three short of Jack Nicklaus‘ record haul of 18.
Woods last won The Masters in 2019, with his victory at Augusta National considered to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time after he returned from back surgery to win again.
Had Tiger not suffered so badly with injuries from 2008 onwards, he surely would have overtaken Nicklaus’ major record.
The question now, sadly, is whether Woods will ever compete at The Masters again, let alone contend to win at Augusta.
The now 49-year-old has five green jackets to his name, but he could have won even more.
Back in 2013, he had a real chance to win The Masters, but finished four shots back of the eventual winner, Adam Scott, in the end.
That included a two-stroke penalty which he incurred after a rules infraction during his second round.
Tiger Woods escaped Masters disqualification after incriminating himself on TV
Woods finished his first two rounds on three-under par for the tournament, or so he thought.
He was retrospectively handed a two-stroke penalty on Saturday for something he did during his second round on Friday.
However, the penalty would not have even come about had he not admitted to his mistake on live television.
Speaking after his round of 71 on Friday (which later became a 73), Woods explained what happened on the 15th hole after his approach shot clattered into the flag and rebounded back into the water.
He said: “I went back to where I played it from, but I went two yards further back and I took, tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit. And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back.“
Had he not made that admission, his rules infraction would not even have been picked up on.
Of course, Woods should have dropped his ball as close as possible to the spot where he played his original shot from.
Augusta chairman Fred Ridley said at the time that Woods’ potential disqualification from the tournament was ‘not even on the table’, and that spoke volumes.
However, Woods did admit that the two-stroke penalty he received was fair and just.
“Absolutely,“ he said. “I made a mistake. Under the rules of golf, I took an improper drop and got a penalty.“
Without trying to be cynical, it would have been interesting to see what punishment would have been handed out, had the culprit been an amateur or a lesser-known PGA Tour player.
Why Tiger Woods was not disqualified from The Masters
The reason why Augusta officials chose not to disqualify Woods from The Masters is rather murky to say the least.
Many suggest that due to his name, Augusta National and, indeed, the TV companies wanted Woods in the field over the weekend.
The rules committee at Augusta changed one specific regulation in 2011, and that gave them a get-out clause.
The rule change meant that a retrospective breach being discovered no longer automatically led to disqualification.
Let’s not forget, the Augusta National hierarchy had no issues coming down hard on 14-year-old Guan Tianlang earlier in the week.
The teenager received a one-stroke penalty for slow play at The Masters and the question remains: would Woods have been handed the same punishment if he wasn’t keeping up with play?
The answer to that question, sadly, is almost certainly no.
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