Tiger Woods dropped a bombshell before the Genesis Invitational, the PGA Tour event he hosts at Riviera Country Club.
He was asked by reporters if he is ruling out a return to action at The Masters this year, and he said no. Woods, a five-time winner of The Masters, has been out of action since 2024. He was eyeing a return early this year, but yet another back surgery pushed it back.
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Woods’ exact timeline wasn’t known, but fans will always speculate whether the 15-time major winner will be teeing off at the most iconic event in the sport. But Woods previously said he wouldn’t play The Masters unless he thought he could win, which made a return at Augusta unlikely.
So if Woods is true to his word, he clearly thinks he can contend with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for the victory. But is that realistic, having not played in two years at the age of 50? His former adversary, Rich Beem, who beat Woods at the 2002 PGA Championship, certainly thinks so.
Photo by Augusta National via Getty Images
Rich Beem thinks Tiger Woods can compete at The Masters
Beem met Woods at the Genesis Invitational and noticed something about him that makes him think he’d be competitive at The Masters.
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He was asked on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast if Woods would ever play at The Masters knowing he couldn’t win, and he replied, “Yeah, but not right now. I think the 2019 win is too fresh in his mind.
“I think that he, I mean, he’s still physically fit. I shook his hand yesterday after needing oxygen to walk up the stairs, and he’s laughing at me, and I say, “I don’t see you doing these stairs with me’.
“But I promise you he could do those stairs with me and probably beat me eight days a week. But I pat him on his stomach, and I’m cutting myself. He’s ripped.
“I think that from his point of view, he wants to go and wants to be physically fit enough to go, ‘Hey, listen, I’m playing ok. I’d like to make a little run here.’ We saw Jack do that, even into his 50s. He got out there and drew everybody’s attention.
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“I think Tiger realises that he can still do that because he’s efficient. He can make those small changes on keeping the ball down and low and chasing. He can hit different shots in order to keep himself in contention.
“And he knows the course better than anybody in the world on how to play it and how to be effective around Augusta National. I think he can still be competitive if his body allows him to. I just don’t know the state of his legs, and that’s the biggest thing about it.
“Because you’ve gotta have your legs underneath you for all 72 holes at Augusta. You can’t go out there and feel weak-kneed whatsoever because that’s when things can go seriously wrong. But I don’t think he’s at that point right now, Jamie, where he’s just going to go out and put Charlie on the bag and just go through the motions.
“I think he’s going to want to tee it up at least three or four more times with the notion that, ‘Watch out guys, I’m playing well.’”
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The best Masters performance for a player over 50
While Jack Nicklaus famously won the green jacket at 46, the title for the best performance at the Masters by a player over the age of 50 belongs to Woods’ historic rival, Phil Mickelson.
In 2023, at 52 years old, Mickelson stunned the golfing world by finishing in a tie for second place. Entering the final round ten shots back, Lefty turned back the clock with a vintage performance, firing a seven-under-par 65.
This score set the record for the lowest round ever recorded in Masters history by a player over 50. His final charge included five birdies in his last seven holes, allowing him to post an eight-under total and briefly hold the clubhouse lead before finishing as runner-up to Jon Rahm.
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Other notable performances from the senior contingent include Nicklaus in 1998. At age 58, the Golden Bear shot a five-under 283 to finish T6, an age-defying feat that included a final-round 68.
At age 50, Fred Couples led after the first round with a 66 and ultimately finished sixth, and at age 56, Bernhard Langer was in contention late on Sunday before finishing T8.
Mickelson’s 2023 runner-up finish remains the gold standard, proving that experience can still rival youth on Augusta’s treacherous greens.
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