Tiger Woods eh? Even with the kind of gammy back that would make Quasimodo wince, there were still those clinging to the hope that the ailing former world No 1 would make some miraculous re-appearance in the Masters this week. The will he, won’t he saga rumbled on until a couple of days ago when he finally announced – on April Fool’s day to be precise – that he wouldn’t be competing in a tournament he has won four times. In many ways, it was something of a relief. Too many times in recent seasons, an injury-plagued Woods has forced a comeback and ended up back at square one with even more aches and pains. This was, finally and sensibly, an acceptance that his rattling, shoogling structure needs time to heal. In fact, we may not see the Woods on the tees again this season.
Of course, Woods continues to fascinate and intrigue. That’s no wonder given his astonishing accomplishments down the years but as the build up to the 80th Masters roars on, Colin Montgomerie is more than happy to focus on the bright young things who are carrying the baton in this post Tiger era. “We might have been really missing Tiger but we’re not,” said the former European Ryder Cup skipper. “We’re very fortunate in the world of golf that we have three guys coming into the first major as joint favourites for the first time. There has always been one favourite but now there are three.”
That triumvirate includes Jordan Spieth, the reigning Masters champion, the in-form Jason Day, who is back as the world No 1, and Rory McIlroy, who is aiming to become only the sixth golfer to achieve the career Grand Slam.
Throw in the likes of Adam Scott and Bubba Watson, two former Masters champions who have both enjoyed wins in 2016, and you have the ingredients of a blockbusting coming together that would make the Clash of the Titans look like a minor stooshie in the school playground.
For Monty, it’s Spieth who remains the man to beat over an Augusta National course he conquered in quite dominant fashion a year ago. “The one I like watching most is Jordan Spieth and I love to see the way his putts are holed in an aggressive manner,” said Montgomerie, who will be doing his usual punditry for Sky Sports. “The Masters is always 75 per cent on the greens. I love the way that Jordan approaches the putts at the Masters in that very confident way.
“I love watching the putting at the Masters because you can tell very quickly who has it and who hasn’t that week. Jordan’s had it the last two years finishing runner-up and winning and I think when he gets to Augusta he will be reignited with this ability on the greens which is better than Rory definitely and Jason Day slightly.
“When he gets to the putting green and gets the bit between his teeth he will feel at home and feel ‘yes. I am better than anybody especially here because it’s the most difficult place to putt in the world’. He’s the best, no question.
“Aggression wins at Augusta. Bubba Watson has won twice there because he has been aggressive. You can’t play for pars there – to win the Masters you need birdies. That’s why I go back to Jordan Spieth because he is so good on the most difficult greens in the world.”
“The putts he has holed in the last two years have been phenomenal for a young guy. He has that confidence and authority on the greens. He will again be the man to beat, there’s no question.”
Seven of the world’s top 14 players have all knocked off victories so far in 2016 but McIlroy has yet to savour success in the new campaign. Indeed, the only player among the top six in the world without a victory is the Northern Irishman.
“I think the reason why he hasn’t won is because the competition is so damn good,” added Montgomerie. “Jason Day beat him in the Matchplay semi-final; Rory didn’t beat himself. Jason went out and won that.
“The competition is extremely high not just from Jason and Jordan Spieth but from the next rung of the ladder who are really on form. It’s very difficult to win. That’s why he hasn’t won yet. He’s so good from tee to green it will happen. It’s just a matter of being patient.”
That’s a virtue the aforementioned Woods needs to adopt these days. He may not be there this week, but the Masters has plenty of storylines to captivate.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here