No joke: The Masters goes on without Tiger

Tiger Woods can't get back to golf soon enough. Anything to keep him off social media. First came words rarely heard from Woods — "Love is in the air" — in his social media post last week confirming he was in a relationship with the former daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, accompanied by a two photos, one of them snuggling on a hammock. More confounding, of course, was posting the photos along with a plea for privacy. But that was right out of his playbook from a decade ago when he was dating skiing great Lindsey Vonn. Provide proof (photos) to devalue and discourage the paparazzi. Tuesday brought something new from Woods — an April Fools' Day joke. "I can't believe I am saying this," Woods wrote on X, another phrase he rarely uses, "but a few weeks after rupturing my left Achilles, the sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber plus the explosive lifts my doctors and trainers have me ready to play the Masters next week! Can't wait! See y'all on the course." He waited six minutes before clarifying that yes, that was a joke. "My Achilles is still a mess," he wrote. That so many people fell for it is largely an example of social media destroying brain cells and partly because so many still hold out hope for his return. Bernhard Langer had a tear in his Achilles tendon and remarkably made it back to the PGA Tour Champions in three months, although he used a cart. Woods said this was a rupture, meaning 2025 will be another lost year in the majors, the only tournaments he still plays. Besides, what is anyone hoping to see? Between the hardware holding his right leg and ankle together, a sixth surgery on his lower back, a ruptured Achilles tendon and a birth certificate that shows him turning 50 at the end of the year, the future is as cloudy as the forecast for Augusta National next week. And it's been that way for some time. In the five years since golf returned from the pandemic-caused shutdown — that includes a full year in 2021 when Woods suffered severe leg injuries from his car crash outside Los Angeles — he has played 18 tournaments and has not finished closer than 12 shots of the winner in the 11 times he managed to get in 72 holes. His greatest feat was making the cut at the Masters last year for a record 24th time in a row. Woods has never missed the weekend at Augusta National as a pro. No doubt, that first full week in April for golf has become synonymous with yellow jasmine, pink azaleas, white dogwoods and a red shirt on Sunday. Woods at a Augusta National is special. Always will be. Gene Sarazen, who put the Masters on the map in 1935 with his famous "shot heard 'round the world" when he holed out from the 15th fairway for an albatross, made his last cut at age 61 and played until he was 71, then became an honorary starter until he died. Sarazen was 90 when he told this gem of a conversation with the Masters chairman: "I told Hord Hardin I was getting too old to play in the Masters, but he kept saying: 'Gene, they don't want to see you play. They just want to see if you're still alive." Woods hasn't been competitive in more than five years, but it's hard to imagine he won't be back. And if he is good enough to win a U.S. Open on one leg, there's enough cause for hope to see a little magic. Would even one tee shot be enough to satisfy his fans? Probably not. Besides, being an honorary starter is not part of his golfing DNA. Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion who works for ESPN at the Masters, raised that prospect in a conference call Monday. "These great players, superstars, always talked about they never want to be a ceremonial player or something to that effect, like it's a negative," Strange said. "I want to see him at Augusta for a long time in the future playing. He's not going to play the way he wants to, but I think the people would love to see him." It's too soon for that. Wait until next spring, when the "tradition unlike any other" includes tracking his private jet going to Augusta for a scouting trip to raise hopes and Woods holding a Tuesday news conference before the largest audience of media and playing a practice round with Fred Couples. "I hope he gets back to where he can play. We don't even know if he can play ever again. It's going badly," Strange said. "But especially here, where he can come back and be comfortable and just be around. The people can't get enough of him. We can't get enough of him. "It would be sad that he wouldn't come back here and play in the future." In the meantime, Rory McIlroy might have his best shot at finally winning the Masters green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam. Scottie Scheffler is going after his third green jacket in four years — no one has done that since Jack Nicklaus some 60 years ago. Azaleas should be popping. The patrons will be roaring. The Masters goes on. But there won't be Tiger. No joke.