Can Tiger Woods win Augusta Masters? Rory McIlroy gives his verdict
The 2023 Masters is just around the corner. The biggest question in any fan's mouth is whether Tiger Woods can claim his sixth green jacket. Just before the tournament, fellow golfer Rory McIlroy gave his verdict on Woods' performance in this year's Masters.
During the pre-tournament discussion, McIlroy, a longtime friend of Woods, said:
"He looks good. If he didn't have to walk up these hills and all of that, I'd say he'd be one of the favorites. He's got all of the shots. It's just that physical limitation of walking 72 holes, especially on a golf course as hilly as this."
Rory McIlroy feels Tiger Woods has all the shots in his armory. The only limitation he might be facing will be the physical aspect of the game. But later on, the current No. 2 added by saying:
"But again, as we all know, we never count Tiger out, and he can do incredible things. He's got all the aspects of the game you need to succeed around this place."
Both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are scheduled to tee off on Thursday, April 6. Woods is paired with Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele, and they will tee off at 10.18 a.m. McIlroy, who is paired with Tom Kim and Sam Burns, will tee off at 01:48 p.m.
"Whether I'm a threat to them or not" - Tiger Woods is optimistic about the 2023 Masters
During pre-tournament discussions, Tiger Woods spoke at a press conference about his chances at the 2023 Masters.
When asked if his fellow players see him as a threat to winning the competition, he said:
"Whether I'm a threat to them or not, who knows. People probably didn't think I was a threat in 2019 either, but kind of turned out okay!"
Tiger Woods feels that his game is better than the previous edition of the tournament. He said:
"I think my game is better than it was last year at this particular time. I think my endurance is better, but it aches a little bit more than it did last year just because at that particular time when I came back, I really had not pushed it that often."
Since Woods was met with an accident in 2021, he has been taking quite a long break from golf. He had to go through leg and foot surgery and it has become quite difficult for him to cope with the walking aspect of the game.
Throwing light on that, he said:
"I had a little window in which I did push it and was able to come back. Fast-forwarding, I didn't really play a whole lot afterwards. Took a little bit to recover from the event."
The five-time Masters champion then spoke about his previous outing at the 2023 Genesis Invitational. He added that he completely agrees with Rory McIlroy (on physical limitations) and accepts that it cannot be undone.
"I played in February in LA [Genesis Invitational] and then took a little time off before getting ready for this. I just have to be cognizant of how much I can push it. Like Rory was saying, I can hit a lot of shots but the difficulty for me is going to be the walking going forward. It is what it is," he added.
Now, only time will tell if Tiger Woods can claim his sixth green jacket or not. The 2023 Masters begins on Thursday, April 6 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.