Back on March 9, third round of a formerly sleepy little tournament in Palm Harbor, Fla., the Tiger Woods Effect may have reached its laughable crescendo.
Before launching on No. 17, Woods broke through his circle of security to pay a hurried visit to the portable toilet beyond the tee box. And almost instinctively the gallery followed, like hounds after the rabbit, practically surrounding the outhouse.
“People following him there with a camera, it’s ridiculous,” his caddie, Joe LaCava, told the New York Times afterward.
How proud these select fans must have been to later show off their intimate photo portraits of Woods heeding nature’s call, both before and after.
At least no one shouted, “In the hole!” as the door closed behind him.
The Woods return has had some wild and crazy four-day runs at places like the Honda Classic, the Valspar and the Palmer Invitational. The fact that he was able to more than play but also contend following spinal-fusion surgery led to historic ticket sales and TV ratings. He was a second sun shining on the Florida swing.
This week, the stage for golf’s most followed comeback since Ben Hogan is the Masters, an event that fancies itself bigger than any single story line. A four-time champion, Woods has missed the past two – and three of the past four – of this, his favorite major.
What will the level of madness be at a place where madness is barred at the high green fence bordering Augusta National? This is a club and a tournament that believes it creates its own gravity. What more will the Woods tale add to such a scene?
Zach Johnson, the 2007 champion, takes a mechanical view of the subject.
“Having him back, having him healthy and competing is like putting high-octane fuel in your car. It just runs better and longer. He pushes the needle, and has, more than anybody.”
The 2013 champion, Adam Scott, knows the score. Even those who have reached the Masters’ summit acknowledge their comparative rank when Woods is on the property.
“The Masters is the Masters, and somehow there’s always a great story line no matter what is going on. You just have to add Tiger in the mix now. He was larger than everybody put together at one point,” Scott said last month.
“He’s a huge draw. He plays well and the excitement going into the Masters is going to be massive because I don’t know if any of us were really thinking he was a true favorite there. And he might be.”
It required but flickers of competitive life from Woods for Las Vegas to react and establish him as favored to win this week. Woods still hasn’t won on Tour since 2013, and last won the Masters 13 long years ago. Yet, on the recommendation of top-five finishes his past two times out – and on the updraft of flighty public sentiment – Westgate Las Vegas Superbook most recently put Woods at 9-to-1 to win the Masters. That’s just better than such more currently relevant 10-to-1 shots such as Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.
The free market is even more bullish. With Woods securely in the field, the secondary market for Masters badges has achieved low earth orbit.
According to Kyle Zorn, data analyst for the ticketing site TickPick, the average list price for a Thursday badge – the most valuable given that there is certainty that Woods will be there – is $3,600. That is nearly $1,500 more than last year’s average. And nearly $1,900 more than the average price in 2015, Woods last time through Augusta National.
“Obviously we could see a lot more (late week) demand pick up, depending on how he plays,” Zorn said.
“If you want to speculate now that he makes it past the Friday cut (he has never missed the cut in 18 appearances as a pro), obviously you get a better deal than a Thursday event. At that point, you’re taking a gamble,” Zorn said.
Another site, StubHub, is listing a four-day badge for $9,450.
The broadcasters at CBS know what Tiger Woods means. They see the ratings numbers. They’ve had a couple of decades to measure the impact he has on their bottom line.
And, oh, should he be in or near the lead. Then it’s must-see stuff.
“It’s about as automatic as anything in sports television that when Tiger is in contention and on that leaderboard, you’re going to get a very, very significant lift,” said Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports.
“It’s one of the epic comebacks in sports history. People see that comeback unfolding on television, and they want to be a part of it and they want to watch it,” McManus said.
There can be no doubt what the return to Augusta means to Woods, because on that subject, he emotes like almost no other.
Going to the past couple of Masters without his golf clubs, only to serve as a presence at the pre-tournament champions dinner, has been painful to the point of torture, Woods has said. It was the ultimate tease, being so close to the course he most reveres, yet so far away from being able to play.
He kept hoping to wake up magically feeling all better at the last minute, but it just didn’t happen.
Woods put his Masters cravings this way, a few weeks ago at Bay Hill: “It’s just me being out there on those greens and hitting putts and being creative – there’s no other golf course like it in the world and there’s no other golf tournament like it. It is literally a players’ heaven.
“If there was one tournament I could come back to, it would be that one. There’s no other tournament like it. It has a deep place in my heart. From the time I was there as an amateur to my first win (1997) and to my other wins there as well, I just love playing Augusta National.
“I’m very eager, very. I feel like I am physically able to do it again and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Others in the industry share that emotion, even if that means they are suddenly back playing in the considerable shadow Woods casts. One that may stretch even farther over Augusta National, given the added dramatic element of an improbable comeback.
“I’m excited to see him play – I just so want the young guys to see what we saw for such a long time,” 40-year-old Paul Casey said.
Yes, there is a generation of pros who have not had the pleasure of throwing themselves into the wood chipper that is Woods at his best.
“It’s fantastic, obviously, to see Tiger playing golf. The difference he makes to the Tour is huge. It’s a huge bonus,” Scott said. “I mean it’s awful to say, we kind of got used to not seeing him out here and it was still good. But it is that much better when he does come and play.”
From tee to green to mid-round pit stop, nobody draws a crowd quite like Woods. Even staid Augusta National will list toward whatever direction he walks.
