Tiger Woods' New Reality: Will 2015 Masters Trigger Next Phase of His Career?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The final two rounds of the Masters will include Tiger Woods. He's very much a golfer—not a memory. Note to social security: Hold off enrolling Eldrick Woods for a long while.

Of all the athletes we watch—all right, sportsmen, if you choose—golfers have the longest competitive lifespan. The putting may be less stable and tee shots much shorter (on the second hole Friday, 65-year-old Tom Watson was 60 yards behind his partners, Danny Willett, 27, and Byron Meth, 22), but the adage holds true: It ain't how; it's how many.

Jack Nicklaus not only won the Masters at age 46, the oldest ever to do so, but he finished sixth at age 58 in 1998. This means that at age 39, and now having made the cut at this 2015 Masters, the golf career of Woods is very much present and accounted for.

After some of us in the media declared Woods finished—following the debacles of February, the botched chips at Phoenix, the erratic play and subsequent withdrawal at Torrey Pines—he showed at Augusta that he isn't finished at all.

In fact, after a three-under-par 69 on Friday at Augusta National—for a two-day total of two-under 142 for 36 holes—it is justified to say he's only beginning, referring to another phase of a unique career.

After all, didn't Phil Mickelson win a British Open at 43?

Woods certainly knows how to win. A spurt like he had on the second day of the Masters, when he appeared in control on a course for the first time in months, has to be encouraging. Again, he believes in himself.

We thought we would ask him how he might pass the time on the weekend. We all make mistakes.   

“I'm excited to be back playing at this level,” Woods said Tuesday.

What level he was referring to left us guessing. He had played four rounds in a tournament just once since the British Open in July.

“I knew what I could do,” Woods said. Words from the wise.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

On Friday, he made four birdies and only one bogey, that on the par-three sixth. So what if the greens are soft and 21-year-old Jordan Spieth is playing the way Tiger once played, in firing 14 under through 36 holes? That doesn't diminish Woods' round—or his future.

Instead of comparing Woods to Spieth or comparing Woods to the Woods of 15 years ago, it's more telling to compare him to the man who was forced to undergo back surgery last year and to the man whose short game made him look like a 22-handicapper as recently as two months ago.

No one expects a pitcher returning from Tommy John surgery or a linebacker coming back after a knee operation to perform at a high level without days of workouts and competition. 

Woods was no different. He had changed coaches. He had changed swings. And he was ailing. Not a good mixture.

“I'm very proud of what I have done,” Woods said Friday of his two rounds, the second better than the first. “To be able to dig it out the way I have…all the hard work that [consultant Chris Como] and I and [physical therapist] Rob McNamara have been putting in.

“I told you Tuesday I was at a pretty low point in my career, but to basically change an entire pattern like that and put it in a position where I can compete in a major championship like this is something [of which] I’m very proud.”

On Thursday, Watson said one of the advantages of returning to the Masters is knowing where to hit the shots. Golf is every bit the mental game as the physical one. The experienced Woods agreed that he must stay mentally sharp.

“You don't know what it will be like out here the next two days, how the weather could change, how they'll set up the course,” Woods said. “You have to make adjustments. You've got to go get it or play a little more passive.”

Someone said to Woods, “If you had made a few more putts…” Woods didn't hesitate in finishing the thought. 

“I'd be right there. And I'm still right there. I'm 12 back, but there's not a lot of guys ahead of me. And with 36 holes here to go, anything can happen, you know. ’96 proved that.”

In 1996, Greg Norman had a six-shot lead Sunday morning. He ended up five shots back of Nick Faldo.

“So,” Woods said, “we have a long way to go.”

Obviously, if his first two rounds are any indication, so does his career.

Art Spander is a winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism from the PGA of America. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.