Tiger Woods is eying history at the 2024 Masters Tournament. He is looking to make the cut at golf's most prestigious major for the 24th consecutive time, which would set a new record for the major.
Woods tied Gary Player and Fred Couples with 23 consecutive made cuts during the Masters in 2023. The 48-year-old was forced to withdraw from that tournament during the third round after aggravating plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
This year, Woods is hoping to avoid that fate. It won't be easy given the litany of injuries he has dealt with over the past few seasons.
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Woods continues to deal with the fallout from a February 2021 car accident that left him with significant leg injuries. He nearly needed to have one of his legs amputated, so that he returned and played golf at all is miraculous.
But Woods is rarely — if ever — at 100 percent because of these injuries. That has made his health a consistent talking point among golf fans, analysts, and even players as he tries to remain on course.
Woods is expected to address his health ahead of the 2024 Masters. That said, a confidant of his already spoke to him about it and provided fans with some insight into some of the "constraints" with which he is dealing.
Here's what to know about Woods' health as he prepares to play in the Masters once again.
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Tiger Woods health update
Notah Begay III, Woods' former college teammate at Stanford who now works as a golf analyst for NBC Sports, explained Woods' limitations on a conference call ahead of the Masters.
"He's trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he's presented with — and he's got some constraints," Begay detailed, per ESPN. "He's got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have."
Those challenges certainly aren't easy for any golfer to overcome considering the torque and flexibility required to hit a worthwhile golf shot. It's even harder for a seasoned golfer like Woods to rework his game to match his abilities as he draws ever nearer to 50 years old.
Even as he plays through the limitations, Woods has struggled to find a way to consistently alleviate the pain and stiffness that comes with playing a full round of golf. That makes it hard to guarantee that he can play a full four rounds anywhere, let alone at Augusta.
"For the past couple months, he's been trying to find a way to recover," Begay explained. "He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be 'Can he walk the 72 [holes]?' That's still up in the air. But can he recover from one round to the next? That's the biggest question that I really don't know, and he's not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he's prepared for this year's Masters is going to work for him."
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Woods has finished a four-round tournament on the PGA Tour just once in the past calendar year, so his status will bear watching throughout the Masters. Even if he plays, it will be interesting to see just how limited he might be by these nagging maladies.
Woods will likely set incremental goals for himself at the tournament. He will first look to finish the tournament's first round before focusing on making a 24th consecutive cut on the tournament's second day.
Once the weekend arrives, Woods' status may depend on his pain tolerance and his chances of winning the tournament. If he's far behind and in constant pain, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him withdraw again.
Either way, the 48-year-old is surely hoping to finish the event to exit Augusta feeling positive about his ability to continue playing on the PGA Tour.
