The Masters: Can Tiger Woods defend his Green Jacket?

The 2020 Masters is here, and Tiger Woods is looking to defend his green jacket at Augusta.

It seems like it has been so long since we got to see the Masters. It doesn’t seem like a year and a half, it seems more like three years. So much has happened since then that it makes it seem longer. Yet here we are, coming up on the 2020 Masters and asking ourselves… can Tiger Woods repeat and win another green jacket?

More than at any point in his life, contending at this year’s Masters is going to be a more difficult task than he has ever faced at Augusta. He hasn’t been playing great lately, and you could argue that there is more talent on Tour currently than there has been at any point in the history of golf.

If you want to make an argument against that statement, I could understand. Maybe there isn’t as much TOP talent, but the depth on Tour today is like nothing that has ever been seen before. I would say we are seeing both though.

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There is one thing that is going to make it a bit easier… or at least not be one more worry that Tiger and Tiger fans have to worry about, and that is going to be cold weather. Temperatures stay warm for quite a while at Augusta, and it is looking like they are going to around 70 degrees for the entirety of the tournament.

Winning the most illustrious tournament in golf is no easy feat. Winning it back-to-back is nearly impossible, only having happened on three occasions since the Masters started back in 1934. Jack Nicklaus first did it in 1965-66. He was followed by Nick Faldo, who did it in 1989-90. The most recent man to do it was… Tiger Woods, who accomplished it in 2001-02.

If he is able to win back-to-back, it would actually mark the fifth time in his career that he has down so at a major, the most recent being in 2006-07 at the PGA Championship.

As he goes for his sixth green jacket, Tiger would pull even with the Golden Bear in majors, albeit in a different manner. Currently, Jack holds the record for the most wins at Augusta with six, the number that Tiger would have if he was able to win this year’s November event.

It’s worth taking a look to see how Tiger has done in the past when returning to the Masters in search of the repeat win. His first opportunity came in 1998 after arguably the most dominant win we have ever seen at the Masters. Tiger won by 12 in 1997 and came into the ’98 event looking for another jacket. He never was able to turn it on, and rounds of 71-72-72-70 would put him in a T-8th, six strokes back of Woods’s longtime friend, Mark O’Meara.

He was actually able to accomplish the feat in 2002, winning, as previously mentioned, in both 2001 (Tiger Slam!) and 2002. After winning by two in 2001 and three in 2002, Tiger Woods would show up in 2003 looking for a three-peat. He had a chance heading into the final round, sitting just four shots back after an incredible 66 in the third round. Alas, he would shoot 75 and finish 15th.

In 2006, he would finish in a T-3rd, playing incredibly consistent with rounds of 72-71-71-70, finishing at -4, three strokes behind the winner, Phil Mickelson.

He’s shown that he can contend, having been in a position to make a charge in each Masters the year after a win.

If you notice, those were all quite a while ago. The last entry is from 2006, meaning Tiger hasn’t looked to go back-to-back at the Masters in nearly 15 years. In fact, he hasn’t had the opportunity to go back-to-back since 2008-2009 in the U.S. Open. He had a chance there as well, finishing T-6th, just four shots back.

In fact, if you take a look at every opportunity Tiger has had to go back-to-back, he only finished outside the top 15 three times, and only two of those were majors where Tiger wasn’t in contention heading into Sunday.

Again, none of these have happened in the past decade. Can Tiger, at 45 years old, on the wrong side of his prime, defend his title among such a talented field?

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Tiger Woods and the rest of the field will tee off on Thursday. Times are going to be a lot earlier than people are used to in order to get done with enough daylight. I’m excited to see how Tiger does at the Masters, and I know I’m not the only one.

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