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The 2020 Masters finally begins today, on what is supposed to be rainy Thursday morning in Augusta, Ga.
And with that we get to see something special – Tiger Woods beginning the defense of his latest major championship victory, which happened on this historic course way back in April of 2019.
That run to his first major since 2008 was one of the great sports moments in some time. We all got to turn back the clock and watch Tiger make one of his patented Sunday charges that ended with him pumping his fists into the air while the whole sports world celebrated alongside him.
So what can we expect from him this time around as he tries to win his sixth Green Jacket? It’s a tough question, especially for me because I gotta admit – I’m a Tiger homer. There’s nothing I enjoy more than watching him contend in any tournament, but especially at Augusta National.
Hours before the 2019 Masters started I explained why Tiger would win. A few days later I was proven to be right.
Then a few months ago before the U.S. Open I explained why I thought he could win at Winged Foot. I was very wrong, as he didn’t make it to the weekend.
So here we are, waiting for Tiger and his 7:55 am ET tee time, weather depending, and I have feelings again. But these feelings aren’t about him winning this tournament. I don’t think that is going to happen.
But I do think he will make the cut and I think he could have his name flirting around the front page of the leaderboard. But come Sunday, some of the young – or younger – guys will make the second nine one to remember and somebody new will put on a Green Jacket (my pick is Patrick Cantlay).
Just having Tiger Woods around for the weekend will be a gift that we should enjoy and I don’t think it’s crazy at all to expect to see him hanging around a bit. Nobody knows this course and this tournament better than Tiger Woods. He knows where to miss it, he knows how to see the breaks in the greens that others don’t see, and he knows how to score on the holes that you need to score on.
He does have some things going against him, however. There’s a 100 percent chance of rain on Thursday and that’s not a great way for a man with a fused back to start the tournament. He also starts on the 10th hole, which is much harder than the first hole and the 11th hole is much harder than the second hole and then you have the legendary par-3 12th. So yeah, things could be very difficult out of the gate.
The weather the rest of the weekend looks to be pretty good, which is great news for Tiger and his back.
Oh, and it doesn’t help that his game hasn’t been all that great at any point this year.
But I think he’ll have tee times on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. If he goes on a run, that’s great. If not, what can you do?
Just having Tiger Woods still being competitive at the Masters is pretty darn fun.
Quick hits: NFL power rankings… NFL playoff predictions… Bryson DeChambeau’s body transformation in photos… And more.
– Henry McKenna’s latest NFL Power Rankings has the unbeaten Steelers looking up at just one team.
– Steven Ruiz has some NFL playoff predictions, including why he thinks the Saints will beat the Packers in the NFC Championship Game.
– Check out Bryson DeChambeau’s wild body transformation in 11 photos.
– Steven Ruiz also has the most overrated and underrated NFL teams heading into the second half of the season.
– ESPN’s Dan Le Batard did an awesome thing on Wednesday that probably annoyed his bosses.