The biggest difference between golf and other sports is that it is actually a time machine.
This is what Tiger Woods told us with practical actions.
Many people, due to their age and physical reasons, are no longer able to engage in strenuous sports, but they can play golf and compete with people who are several times younger or healthier than themselves.
And in the early hours of this morning, in the first round of the 2022 Masters, Tiger Woods used a scorecard of 1 under par to tell the world -
He didn't quit.
Everything, really can be repeated.
From the tragic car accident to the return to the Grand Slam, the tigers took less than 14 months
Speaking of pain, he laughed
On February 23, 2021, he inexplicably overturned on the highway and almost lost his life. Fourteen months later, with his right foot and right leg with metal nails, he completed his first official match in 508 days with a negative score of 3 birds on one of the most rugged and demanding courses in the golf world.
508 days may sound like a long time, but it wasn't the longest "injury stop" of Woods' career — from August 2015 to January 2017, he hung up his free card for 522 days due to two waist surgeries.
But this time, it seems to be very different from every comeback of Tigers before.
After a tragic car accident that nearly killed and almost amputated a leg, he was lucky to survive, and in the face of life and death, going to the Grand Slam stage to compete for the championship and impact the PGA Tour championship record is no longer so important - unlike the first four injuries, he still has to find the number of clubs, feels, and honors in front of opponents, sponsors, and fans.
Yes, he could have let it go and given it all up.
Woods appeared in Augusta as promised
Over the past year, Tiger himself has repeatedly said in interviews that he doesn't think he can still play professional golf. And every time the tiger appears on crutches and staggers, the painful expression also makes the tiger fans around the world follow the heartache.
But he didn't give up.
This morning Augusta, the Tigers' kick-off always missed the fairway, but he did not give up, saving one par after another. Even if the green rate on par is only 50%, he has not given up, and he can still shoot dead birds on the par three hole whenever he has the opportunity!
Tigers make their comeback for the first shot!
Some people say that if the tiger can appear, it is a victory. But in reality, he did much more than that.
This is the first time tigers have played in the official tournament on the Tour in 17 months after the Final Round of the Masters on November 15, 2020, and the scorecard for his comeback debut is even better than his average at Augusta - 24 times he has participated in the Masters, this morning is only his 11th time under par in the first round, and the previous 10 times, he has won the championship 4 times and reached the top ten 9 times - at least in terms of results, Woods, or that Woods!
'I know how to deal with this pitch, it's about trying to put the ball in the right place. His post-match statement sounded so familiar: "I also know where to play closer to the flag position, although I missed some good positions, but still left a good offensive angle." Overall, I played well today and the putter was smooth and happy to finally hand over the negative shot. ”
Is this the kind of start that wins the Masters? No one can say for sure. Judging by the tiger's stiff legs and slow pace, whether he can persist in walking through the 72 holes is a question mark. Besides, the Tigers kick off in the afternoon on Friday, and the Level 6 winds will invade Augusta... But the red letter 71, tied for 10th, is only 4 strokes behind the leader Ren Chengzai, which is obviously not a bad performance - you know, on this day, Colin Morikawa, Ram, McIlroy, Hofland, Hideki Matsuyama, Spieth, Koepka, JT, de Chambord are not as good as tigers!
"It's really hard! People don't know how hard it is. At this time, Woods finally said something unknown, he described his hard work to get rid of crutches and walk again, "only my team knows all this, they work with me every day." We haven't had a day off since I got out of bed three months later..."
Tigers still can't squat to see the line
When the reporter asked, after 18 holes, what would he do in the next ten hours. The tiger blurted out, "I have to get into the ice bucket quickly, ice pack!" A full day of ice! ”
He laughed as he said this. Originally talking about pain, tiger was so happy! That's his life, but golf has shaped his life and defined his life – welcome back, Tiger! Welcome back to Golf.
Returning with them, there was Augusta
Along with the rediscovery of the "good old days", there are also tiger fans who follow him, and the "home" of the tiger - Augusta.
Due to the pandemic, there were no fans at the Masters two years ago
Supply chain is a hot word in today's world, whether it is Shanghai, which is struggling to fight the epidemic, or Ukraine, supply and demand are a knife in everyone's heart. Isn't the same true of the world of golf? Tiger Woods hasn't been out for a long time, and the last time Augusta opened its doors to fans without restrictions dates back to 2019 before the pandemic. For a long time, we even had to wonder: Will the Grand Slam be the same as before?
However, on Thursday, Woods wore a collarless T-shirt the color of a blooming azalea, providing us with 5 hours of wonderful golf, and millions of fans around the world felt the "great satisfaction" of the long drought.
Crowds of people watched the tiger scene reappear
At Augusta, the pomp and circumstance was even more spectacular, when Woods kicked off on Hole 1, the entire fairway from the tee to the green was filled with people on the inside and three floors outside. The congestion and slow march of the crowds is even more exaggerated than the queues at Disney and Universal Theme Parks, and many people have to crouch on the ground and catch a glimpse of the tiger's heroic posture through the gaps in the leaves.
U.S. Amateur Championship champion James Piot has never seen such a formation. He was in a group behind Woods, along with Justin Thomas and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama. "I also said in my chat yesterday: 'I play behind the tigers. This can be a bit less than easy. Then A player told me, 'It's better to play behind him than to play in front of him.' Indeed, when the Tigers were there, almost all the players had to avoid it. Even though I was playing with JT and one of the greatest defending champions in the same group (Hideki Matsuyama), people kept leaving us because they just wanted to see Tiger Woods. ”
People rushed to see the Tiger King
The most interesting moment, which happened in the green of Hole 5, was when the tiger walked to a bathroom next to it "conveniently".
"He's like a rare breed in a zoo." One audience member said that when Woods walked out of the bathroom and opened the door, hundreds of pairs of eyes instantly froze on the body, and the scene was silent. The tiger walked silently for about 25 steps, and the eyes of the audience silently observed him...
"I'm embarrassed to have cancer." Another fan customer finally broke the silence and said. Woods, on the other hand, is very good at dealing with embarrassment. He stepped up to the tee, looked at par3's 6th hole, and with a beautiful iron, sent the ball 1 foot from the cup. The scene burst into thunderous cheers, everyone was clapping and shouting, and they finally waited for the desired result: after 508 days, the tiger's first bird!
On hole 6, the tiger shot down a dead bird
The audience laughed, Augusta's staff laughed, and even Tiger Woods himself laughed. That's the Masters, and it's back, just like in April 2019 — it was the last time it was full, and it was exactly the same the last time Tigers won.
Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Masters took a closed-door approach and did not sell tickets to fans. Although reopened in 2021, the number of spectators allowed to enter the venue each day is strictly limited. It was not until this year that the "flow restriction" was finally stopped.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Augusta National Golf Club," a security guard said to the crowd that flowed through the front door on Thursday, "where have you all gone?" We miss you very much. ”
Tiger lit up behind the fan, counting the beer glasses in his hand...
Scotty Schoffler competed for the first time in the world this year, having played two-time Augusta but never seen a "normal" Masters. On Thursday, though, he finally got to know the Grand Slam extravaganza. Of course, it is also due to the tiger.
"Yes, it definitely feels very different." He said, "The crowd was a lot louder. Even with the tigers in the few groups in front of us, we heard some agitation. There was a loud cry and we thought, 'Oh, the tiger must have caught a little bird.' But it was Neman who beat the Eagle. ”
Neman, who shot down the eagle, was even more sympathetic to all this. Even just a few weeks ago, he appeared at the same tournament as Tiger Woods for winning the Jains Invitational Tournament and receiving the latter's award. But now with the same group of tigers, the kind of shocking education is completely different.
Woods is in the same group as Neman
"It's really interesting. From the beginning, caddie and I noticed that there were more and more people around. The Chilean boy laughed and said, "But then I tried to talk to my caddie and ask him to do something for me, and I couldn't hear anything he said." ”
To Woods, the crowd was naturally deafening, but he didn't seem to care much. Within five hours, the five-time Green Jacket winner once again played the red letters we've seen on his 24 Masters tours. The only difference is that the tigers enjoy it all even a little more.
"What I want to say is that the stadium is getting vibrant again." He laughed after the round and said, "It seems like I haven't played a round like this since I won in 2019. Because in 2020 we had COVID-19, Augusta didn't have an audience. And last year, I didn't play either. So, it feels good to see the audience come out to watch the ball and let that energy go. ”
Because of Tiger Woods, golf became a time machine, and when we forgot what the normal world was like, we found it again this week.
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