AUGUSTA | It was a glorious warm and sunny Sunday in eastern Georgia. After the children’s skills competition in the morning, calm returned to a peaceful afternoon on the beautiful green grounds of Augusta National. This quickly turned into a gigantic game of cat and mouse with none other than Tiger Woods.
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The golfer with the five green jackets showed up at the gate of the select Washington Road club early in the afternoon. Impossible to play hide and seek with American civil aviation standards. His private Gulfstream jet registered N517TW took to the air in Florida at 11:36 a.m. and landed at Augusta Regional Airport 65 minutes later.
Photo Getty Images via AFP
But rather than heading to the practice field as he did in years past, the big cat changed his Sunday game plan and put obstacles in the way of the journalists who were waiting for him there to scrutinize his momentum. magnifying glass.
On Sunday, April 7, 2024, Tiger Woods practices on the Augusta National course in preparation for the 88th Masters Tournament.
Photo COURTESY AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
Short game
The 48-year-old golfer headed to the practice green near the course and then quietly pushed himself there, armed with his putter and a few short irons. What followed was a vast game between the scribes and the man with 82 PGA titles trying to follow in his footsteps. In a place with no secrets for him, he walked there left and right accompanied by his cadet, Lance Bennett, and his right-hand man Rob McNamara.
Photo COURTESY AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
A few people saw him here and there while the course was closed to visitors in the afternoon. Obviously, he wanted to have holy peace on this sacred land which has become his true playground. According to observers who observed him, it is said that Woods walked well and that his iron shots were on point. The lenses of the Augusta National photographers captured him smiling during his walk.
It must be said, however, that this is not the first time that Woods has done this upon his arrival at Augusta National. When he won the Masters in 2019, he did the same. Last year, he also took to the field equipped with only a few short sticks. But he had visited the practice field beforehand. Ditto for his big return to the game in 2022, 14 months after his terrible road accident which could have cost him his life.