Tiger Woods’ sad unravelling on Masters Saturday is proof time waits for no man

Opinion

Chief Sports Correspondent

This is elite sport, an agent of truth that has little time for romance

April 13, 2024 11:01 pm(Updated 11:04 pm)

AUGUSTA NATIONAL — Tiger Woods has probably never read Chaucer, but the father of English literature had a pretty good read on Woods’ sad unravelling on Masters Saturday.

“Human events or concerns cannot stop the passage of time or the movement of the tides,” Chaucer wrote in the Clerk’s Tale, an observation which has contracted over the centuries to find more common expression as “time waits for no man”.

The resilience of Friday, the absolute refusal to bend in testing conditions was absent on a day when reality bit hard.

Woods negotiated 23 holes across a period of eight hours in two under par on Friday. Though seven shots back he set out on Saturday imagining he might march on as he did in the peak years. He was indulged in this fantasy by galleries still invested in the idea of miracles.

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But this is elite sport, an agent of truth that has little time for romance. Woods had played only once this year at the Genesis Invitational in February, and had to withdraw from that. His last four completed rounds came in December at the Hero World Challenge, where he finished 18th of 20. There was little evidence to support Woods making the cut here.

Of course he talked about the “W”. He is hard wired to think that way, and we are conditioned to believe him. Augusta National had no regard for the Woods legend. The par Woods recorded at the last was as good as it got. What came before was a reminder of the folly of falling for the seductive powers of myth.

Woods posted three bogeys and two doubles in the space of six holes on his outward nine. Five bogeys in six holes would follow on the back nine for a round of 82. Being the champion he is, he raised his putter in salute and removed his cap to salute the galleries that remained loyal throughout the round.

The battle for the lead played out in relatively empty spaces. Not until Woods took his leave did the galleries divert to the holes behind. And what a contest was unfolding.

The overnight leaders Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa were joined by Ludwig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard, unheard of before the Ryder Triumph in Rome, plus Collin Morikawa. All three held outright or had a share of the lead at one point.

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Having set the mark at eight under par at his third hole of the day, Scheffler doubled the tenth and bogeyed the 11th to fall back to four under par. Two holes later he had a share of the lead again with an eagle at the par-5 13th. Talk about moving day.

After moving inexorably in the opposite direction, Woods admitted that Friday had taken a lot out of him. “I was not hitting it very good or putting well. I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today. Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.

“And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makeable putts. I missed a lot of them. It’s just that I haven’t competed and played much. When I had chances to get it flipped around after that putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way.”