Tiger Woods To Miss His First Masters in 16 Years?

Tiger Woods has never missed a Masters.

Tiger Woods has never been as brutally honest with himself or his golfing fans, as evidenced by his heartfelt speech on February 19 at TPC Sawgrass.

You can be cynical.

Call me "gullible" as The Golf Channel's Charlie Rymer wrote in a recent article.

Tiger's life is in shambles.

He's not in a good place though he is trying with all his Buddhist faith and with the help of professionals to get to a better place.

But that place will likely not be Augusta National in five weeks time.

With the arrival of March and the PGA TOUR heading to Florida all the eyes and hearts of golf turn to the Masters Tournament.

To say this year has been a little odd in the golf world is to say the least. We need The Masters to come as soon as possible in order to settle things down.

Ian Poulter winning in the USA? Twenty-some-things not going for reachable par-5s in two with championships on the line? Phil Mickelson not winning on the west coast? Tiger Woods going to TPC Sawgrass without his golf clubs?

Heavy snow on the grounds of Augusta National only days ago?

This has been a strange year indeed.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods, winner of 14 major championships including his historic 12-stroke win in 1997; back-to-back wins in 2001-2002 and most recently in a playoff win over Chris DiMarco in 2005 is in the field but will likely not play due to his personal situation.

He wants to make his marriage work and as any golfer knows once in a while you have to miss a tee time in order for that to happen. Masters or not. It's not about glory and fame for Tiger Woods any more.

After winning four times in a nine-year period could it be Tiger missing this year's springtime tradition like no other and going 0-for-5 in recent years?

Honorary Starters Arnie and Jack, when you hit the ceremonial first tee shots on Thursday, April 8, please say it is not so.

True to the spirit of Bobby Jones The Masters continues to develop amateur golf around the world.

At last year's tournament chairman Billy Payne announced a joint endeavor with the R&A and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation to create the Asian Amateur Championship. The winner of which will earn a place in the field for this year's Masters.

In November Korean Han Chang-won dominated the inaugural event and turned 18 years old four days later.

His spot in the Masters is a story but his age is not.

Italian teenager Matteo Manassero won the British Amateur last June and will tee it up in the Masters only 11 days shy of his 17th birthday. He will become the youngest ever competitor at Augusta National.

Korean teenager Byeong-Hun An became the youngest ever U.S. Amateur champion last August will be in the field along with runner-up Ben Martin. An will be 18.5 years young when he tees it up in Augusta, Georgia.

Lesser known amateur Brad Benjamin won the U.S. Amateur Public Links last July. Like most amateurs who dream of playing in the Masters the 22-year-old University of Memphis graduate is holding off turning pro until after he awakens from his dream hopefully as the Masters champion late Sunday afternoon on April 11.

Nathan Smith, 31 will be back competing at The Masters after winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur in early October. He also won the same event in 2003 to qualify for the 2004 Masters. He shot 78-72 and missed the cut by two strokes.

Has an amateur even won the Masters?

No- the best finish by an amateur was solo second by Ken Venturi in 1956. Frank Stranahan and Charles Coe also tied for second place in 1947 and 1961 respectively.

Twelve golfers have gone on the win The Masters after first playing there as an amateur including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and most recently 2008 champion Trevor Immelman.

How is this year's field shaping up?

Gary Player said his competitive good bye to Augusta National last year and joins a group of twelve past champions who are not expected to play.

Defending champion Angela Cabrera has played fairly well since winning last year and may very well join Nicklaus, Faldo, and Woods as the only back-to-back winners.

Nobody has won the Masters three years in a row.

Jack Nicklaus is the undisputed king of the Masters with six victories, two more than the recognized King Arnold Palmer and the "not sure if he will come back to the game of golf and win more majors" wannabe king Tiger Woods.

Runners-up last year losing in a playoff to the tenacious Cabrera are 35-year-old Texan Chad Campbell and soon to be 50-year-old Kentuckian Kenny Perry.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover is back at the Masters since 2007 when he finished T20.

British Open champion Stewart Cink missed the cut last year but had his best of 12 Masters—a T3 finish in 2008.

PGA champion Y.E. Yang has missed five cuts in eight major starts including last year's Masters after a T30 finish in his only other Masters in 2007.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington has played in the last ten Masters finishing in the Top 10 three times including twice in the last three years.

If Tiger can't play but Phil plays like he did when they were paired together on Sunday last year then at least maybe Phil can win his fourth major. It would be his third Masters and put the 2006 U.S. Open major disappointment at Winged Foot GC behind him for good.

Sergio Garcia at age 30 is the undisputed best player to never have won a major and comes to his twelfth Masters in a row having his best finish in five years last year- a T38.

Wait a second what about World No. 2 Steve Stricker- the undisputed "best player we would all love to see win a major" who finished T6 last year?

Maybe it is Lee Westwood's moment to win a major after winning the inaugural Race to Dubai last year based on the strength of T3 finishes at the Open at Turnberry and the PGA at Hazeltine?

Now that would be an English invasion for sure.

There is excitement building for this the 74th rendition of the Masters both on an amateur and professional level.

Despite a T38 in last year's Masters Henrik Stenson won THE PLAYERS Championship last year and built on it finishing ninth at the U.S. Open, T14 at the British Open, and T6 at the PGA Championship.

Long shot 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton is trying to rejuvenate his golfing career after his five-year exemption expired last year. Finishing 133rd on the money list his exemption status is very limited this year.

He can build on his T15 finish at the Masters by improving his 72-73 weekend performance last year.

Could 13-time PGA TOUR winner and 2001 British Open champion David Duval come full circle after finishing T2 at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black last June and T2 finish three weeks ago at Pebble Beach?

Right now, including Tiger Woods the field size is set at 94 players.

Potentially there are more invitations to be earned by golfers or granted by the Masters Committee of the Augusta National Golf Club.

The winners of the four Florida swing tournaments and the Augusta National knock-off and warm up act called the Shell Houston Open will qualify if not otherwise in the field.

The 50 leaders of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the end of last year are already in the Masters. The Top 50 OWGR after Quail Hollow going into the Masters also qualifies.

Those that have moved into the Top 50 OWGR and look to stay there come Masters times include Spaniard Alvaro Quiros (No. 31) and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (No. 44).

Those still outside the Top 50 OWGR and hoping to get in include India's Jeev Milka Singh (No. 57) and two Swedes- Peter Hanson (No. 58) and Alexander Noren (No. 59).

The Masters Committee, at its sole discretion, also invites International players not otherwise qualified.

So will Tiger miss his first Masters in 16 years?

We'll have to wait for the snow to melt and five weeks time to pass to find out for sure.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering and working part time for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and The Golf Channel.

He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]