Tiger Woods is again on the Masters, alongside along with his slight limp. It just isn't each step, each minute. But it's there. And as a lot {hardware} as he has in his mended proper leg, the limp figures to be with him for so long as he performs the game he as soon as dominated.

As for a way lengthy he retains taking part in Augusta National? That’s somewhat tougher to foresee.

Woods conceded that every journey to the Masters — at his age (47) and with surgical procedures on each legs and his again over the past decade — makes him surprise if it’s going to be the final one.

“I don’t know how many more I have in me,” Woods stated Tuesday.

This will likely be his twenty fifth time taking part in the Masters, and Woods nonetheless is stunned there was a twenty fourth. He was nonetheless recovering final 12 months from crashing his automobile off a suburban Los Angeles street at over 85 mph, crushing bones in his proper leg so badly he stated medical doctors contemplated amputation.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play again at that time,” Woods stated. “For some reason, everything kind of came together and I pushed it a little bit and I was able to make the cut, which was nice.”

Woods has an infinite presence at Augusta National due to his affect on the sport, to not point out the 5 inexperienced jackets he has gained, the final one in 2019. A 12 months in the past, the web lit up with aviation monitoring websites that adopted his flight plan to the membership for a pre-Masters scouting report.

And but now he offers this Masters a way of normalcy.

Golf has been consumed with the good divide between the institution and Saudi-funded LIV Golf, which has 18 gamers on the Masters who're suspended from taking part in common PGA Tour occasions. There is concept how gamers on each side will get alongside.

And then there may be Woods on the Masters. Azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom. Thousands comply with him in follow rounds. And Thursday will carry a well-known chorus from the primary tee: “Fore please, Tiger Woods driving.”

From there, nobody is certain what to anticipate, Woods included.

“He looks good,” stated Rory McIlroy, who performed Monday with Woods, 63-year-old Fred Couples and 20-year-old Tom Kim. “You know, if he didn’t have to walk up these hills and have all of that, I’d say he’d be one of the favorites. He’s got all of the shots. It’s just that physical limitation of walking 72 holes, especially on a golf course as hilly as this.”

Woods has matured, by means of time and too many surgical procedures, from the relentless champion to a guardian prepared to cross alongside among the native information he picked up as a youthful man from Couples and Raymond Floyd, from Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.

He nonetheless needs to compete. There can be no level in staying after the Masters Club dinner Tuesday night time if that weren't the case. And he nonetheless thinks he can discover somewhat magic.

He has stated all over the place he has performed over the past 12 months — a complete of 11 rounds in 4 tournaments, one in every of them a 36-hole exhibition in a cart along with his son — that hitting photographs isn’t the issue. It’s attending to the subsequent one.

“Yeah, mobility, it’s not where I would like it,” Woods stated. “I’ve said to you guys before, I’m very lucky to have this leg — it’s mine. Yes, it has been altered and there’s some hardware in there, but it’s still mine. It has been tough and will always be tough. The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same. I understand that.

“That’s why I can’t prepare and play as many tournaments as I like, but that’s my future, and that’s OK. I’m OK with that.”

Woods discovered a small victory in simply taking part in final 12 months, and making the minimize was a bonus. He has by no means missed the minimize on the Masters as a professional, and that streak is on the road once more. Then once more, he confirmed up at Riviera in February for his first PGA Tour occasion in seven months and performed all 4 rounds.

“I think my game is better than it was last year at this particular time,” he stated. “I think my endurance is better. But it aches a little bit more than it did last year just because at that particular time when I came back, I really had not pushed it that often. And I had a little window in which I did push it and was able to come back.

“I just have to be cognizant of how much I can push it,” he stated. “Like Rory was saying, I can hit a lot of shots but the difficulty for me is going to be the walking going forward. I wish it could be easier.”

So why trouble exhibiting up?

Woods lengthy has stated there’s no level in exhibiting up if he didn’t suppose he may win. He teased with a 67 within the third spherical at Riviera. The photographs are nonetheless in there. And he is aware of Augusta National higher than any championship course he performs.

He pointed to Couples, who swings freely and walks casually, and nonetheless can maintain his personal. Couples shares the document with Gary Player for many consecutive cuts made on the Masters with 23. Woods can tie them if he makes it to the weekend.

Woods was requested if he felt the youthful gamers to whom he passes alongside a few of his information understand him as any form of a menace. In his 13 PGA Tour occasions since he gained his record-tying 82nd title on the PGA Tour, his greatest end is a tie for ninth. That was earlier than the automobile crash.

“Whether I’m a threat to them or not, who knows?” he stated. “People probably didn’t think I was a threat in 2019, either, but kind of turned out OK.”