Tiger Woods Masters: Keys to a Tiger Triumph at Augusta

Tiger Woods can win all the PGA Tour events that he wants, but everyone knows the only one that matters to him is The Masters. It is the tournament where he came into our national conscience, back in 1997. 

We all have a high opinion of Woods after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. However, Augusta is an entirely different animal altogether. Woods has always been able to contend at this event, even when he was going through his struggles from 2009-2011. 

So what does Woods need to do in order to make sure that he walks away from Augusta with his fifth green jacket?

Driving Accuracy

We all know that Woods can hit the ball as far as anyone in the history of golf, but the biggest surprise this year has been how accurate he has been off the tee. 

Woods ranks 14th so far this year in driving accuracy. He is going to need to hit fairways early to keep his confidence high and make sure that he doesn't try to do too much because he falls behind when he does. 

Minimizing the effort he has to put into getting the ball on the green will make it easier for Woods to get easy putts and put up a lot of red numbers. 

Putting

Here is the big key for Woods at Augusta. When the year started, he had nothing with his short game. He was hitting greens with a chance to make birdies and eagles, but he would end up three-putting to shoot par or bogey. 

All that changed last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods was hitting everything when he got on the green. He did not have to putt more than twice whenever he got on the green. It was vintage Tiger Woods. 

As long as Woods can harness the momentum that he built last weekend, he should have no problems walking away with his fifth green jacket.  

Focus

Part of the problem with Woods in previous years has been a lack of focus. He used to be the most composed athlete on the planet. Over the years, there seems to have been a shift where he has been letting every little thing snowball on him. 

When Woods withdrew from an event earlier this month with an Achilles injury, some were questioning whether he was really interested in playing when he was struggling. 

That never used to happen. He would battle through everything—injuries, struggles, etc.—before making a run at the leader. 

Woods needs to keep his composure throughout the weekend. He can't start making little mistakes that turn into bigger ones, or else he will not be in contention on Sunday. 

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