The past Masters champions will sit down to dinner next week and tuck into the food selection that Rory McIlroy, as the defending champion, has chosen for them. Peach and ricotta flatbread, grilled elk sliders and tuna carpaccio are among the delights on offer. We know what’s on the menu. I think we can take a pretty good guess as to what they will be talking about.
Elk may be the wild animal on the plate but it will be a different one on the tongue: Tiger. The context of the conversations will likely depend, of course, on whether he is in attendance or not. If he is then certainly the Augusta National patrons may wish to give Magnolia Lane a wide berth when he makes his entrance. In his prime it was often said that the term ‘back off’ had no place in the Woods’ vocabulary. Unfortunately, the word ‘chauffeur’ also seems to be absent from his lexicon.
It is an understatement to say that it’s fortunate no one has been killed or injured (other than himself) in the wake of Woods’ various vehicular antics over the past decade. Having said that, I found it impossible to suppress a smile at one photo after his latest incident. His car is lying on its side in the road while at the side of the highway he is making a phone call – standing next to a fire hydrant! Given the role of a different hydrant in the less potentially fatal car crash in 2009 that signalled the triggering of events that would lead to thousands of lurid tabloid stories and his eventual divorce, it seemed almost bathetic.
Back to the golf. McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters last year. He is second favourite this time, behind the inevitable Scottie Scheffler, this even though the latter is going through an almost historic slump: he hasn’t finished in the top-10 in any of his last three starts. With most bookies, the LIV glamour boys, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, are third favourites. It is interesting to note that right now there are four Europeans in the world top-7: McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and the evergreen Justin Rose. Scheffler aside, the other two Americans are Cameron Young, who won the Players, and Xander Schauffele. I guess from a British/European perspective, given that he has twice lost out in a playoff at Augusta, Rose might be the most popular winner – at the age of 45, 13 years after winning his one and only major championship in the US Open at Merion.
It is reasonable to rule Tiger out of consideration. In fact, of course, it is hard to figure that he will play in this upcoming Masters even if he does make it to Rory’s supper party. But he has apparently been putting out feelers about playing some senior tournaments later this season, in which he would able to drive a golf cart. Which begs the question: would that be safe?