Tiger Woods Biggest Wild Card for 2015 Masters After Augusta Practice Round

Tiger Woods played a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club Tuesday with the 2015 Masters right around the corner. You’re not surprised, right?

The game’s biggest stage beckons the game’s biggest name, even though Woods has been on a leave of absence from competitive golf since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open Feb. 5. Just because he practiced at Augusta doesn’t necessarily mean he will play in the Masters, but it’s not that difficult to connect the dots.

Bob Harig of ESPN.com reported that Woods played the 18-hole practice round and that he “is not required to commit to next week’s Masters Tournament as he is an invited player and the event has no alternate list.”

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That may be the case, but the first round is Thursday, April 9. Woods practicing on the course as the calendar turns from March to April is likely no coincidence, especially since he never offered an actual return date when he left (per Harig): "My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I've said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready I'll be back."

Just the fact that Woods may actually return for the Masters makes him the biggest wild card of the entire pre-tournament process and the competition itself.

Woods is still the biggest name in golf and will draw large crowds and otherwise disinterested television viewers, so there will certainly be those in the media holding their breaths hoping he returns. He will impact the way the tournament is covered, broadcasted and discussed because he is the transcendent figure in the game from the past 20 years.

As for on the actual golf course, it would be unfair to the rest of the field to play the intimidation card because Woods’ absolute dominance he showed in his prime is so far back in the rearview mirror that it seems like a distant memory. He no longer has that aura about him that often made lesser players shrink in the moment.

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Still, there is something to be said for the added pressure of playing in front of the largest galleries on tour, especially if Woods’ playing partners in the first couple of rounds aren’t necessarily major names.

Then there is Woods himself, who has conquered the Masters field four different times during his illustrious career.

There is a long list of magic moments involving Woods and Augusta, from his 2005 chip in what looked like a live-action Nike commercial when the company’s logo on the golf ball froze for the cameras before it eventually dropped in the hole to when he returned from an extended time off in 2010 and nearly won before finishing in fourth place.

He knows this golf course, has experienced some of the greatest moments of his career there and understands what it takes to win.

Of course, there is also the possibility that he will return and fail to play the sport he once dominated at a competitive enough level to even make the cut.

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After all, he has only played in seven worldwide events since back surgery around this time in 2014, and he missed the cut in two of them and had to withdraw from two more. He also shot an 82 in January at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in a round that would have been disappointing for plenty of local club pros across the country. 

Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN reined in expectations surrounding Woods given the latest practice-round news:

This is what makes Woods such a fascinating figure as the Masters approaches.

All possibilities are theoretically in play. It is still hard to forget the absolute wizardry Woods displayed on the golf course when he was at the peak of his powers, but it is truly difficult to imagine him coming back from his time off at the sport’s most famous venue and actually challenging the younger superstars on tour. 

Like it or not, Woods will be a major storyline in the lead up to the Masters and will shape how the 2015 edition is remembered, assuming he plays. It’s just anyone’s guess as to how his rounds will unfold.

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