Masters 2012: Why Tiger Woods No Longer Rules Augusta

It's been rather easy to jump on board the Tiger Woods bandwagon after an amazing finish at Bay Hill, but the legendary golfer still has some work to do heading into the Masters at Augusta. 

I will go so far as to say that I am cautiously optimistic that the classic Tiger will walk the beauty that is Augusta. 

True, there are reports that Azaleas may be skim at the prized course, but we may have one thing to remind us of how amazing this weekend can be, and that's Woods. 

After 924 days between victories, we can finally call Woods a winner again. However, there has been so much futility in those few years that we move on egg shells towards predicting that he will be decked out in green at the end of four days. 

The days of marking Woods down for leaderboard triumph at Augusta are over. He may very well shock us with another tremendous effort like the one he gave a week and a half ago, but these are the things that have us thinking otherwise:

1. Rory McIlroy and Company

If we are truly talking about two completely different Tigers, the "good" one will find that this is a much different field from the one that he left. 

It is lead by a brash youngster that is not about to crumble like other golfers used to at a famed Tiger Woods surge. 

Rory McIlroy is in fine form and is not about to waver due to a number that Woods might be putting on the scorecard. After that, you have Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson to round out the likely favorites. 

2. Injury

Tiger Woods wasn't just losing tournaments, he was bowing out of them as well. The most recent was at Doral and occurred just a month ago. 

At that time, it was his Achilles that flared up, but there are also knee issues to make note of. Injury can come out of nowhere, and durability will now be a question mark on Woods' game for the rest of his career. 

3. Putting

Woods has been blasting the ball remarkably well for months now. In fact, he may be teeing off better than he has in his career. 

Now about that putting. 

Bay Hill aside, the previous tournaments have us worried that his putting woes could come back in full force at any time. 

Augusta is a beast and can make even the best in the world mad with frustration. Woods may have figured out the short game just in time. 

Any misstep on putting may see them flood on back. 

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