Masters notes: A return for Tiger, but not the Eisenhower Tree

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods felt right at home at Augusta National, a golf course he has been playing since 1995. He said he is fascinated that the course keeps making subtle changes, and yet it looks as though it hasn’t been touched.

There was one obvious change. He was just a year late in noticing because he didn’t play last year.

The Eisenhower Tree is no longer at No. 17, felled by an ice storm last year. Woods had back surgery a week before the Masters and had not been back since he played a pair of practice rounds last week.

“I didn’t realize 17 was straight ahead,” Woods said. “I always thought it was a little bit of a dogleg left. It’s eye-opening to see it’s just dead straight. That was very, very shocking to me to see it like that.”

The loblolly pine was about 210 yards off the left of the 17th fairway, meaning players either had to hit it over the 65-foot tree or hit a right-to-left tee shot to shape the ball around it. That’s what made it feel like a dogleg left to Woods.

“I loved it the way it was,” Woods said. “That tree, I’ve hit it too many times, trust me. I’ve had my issues on that hole with that tree. But I thought it was a fantastic hole. It’s iconic, that tree, and I don’t think you can ever, ever replace it.”

One of those bad memories was in 2011 in the third round when he had to squat to play a shot from under the Eisenhower Tree. His left foot got caught in the pine straw as the momentum of the swing carried him backward. Woods suffered a slight injury to his left Achilles’ tendon and left knee and missed his next start. He returned at The Players Championship, withdrew after nine holes and didn’t play again for more than two months.

Bubba’s menu

Bubba Watson plans a repeat – if not as the Masters champion, then at least what he serves at the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night.

Watson has been keeping it a secret ever since he won last year for the second time, but he finally gave in and it was somewhat of a letdown. He said he would be serving the same meal he did as defending champion in 2013.

That would be Caesar salad, chicken breasts, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn and macaroni and cheese.

“It’s the same meal because it’s from my mom – home-cooked meal,” he said. “And that’s why I do it.”

Not that young

Woods was talking about the next generation of players when he mentioned that he won his first Masters in 1997 when “Jordan was still in diapers.” That would be Jordan Spieth, the 21-year-old from Texas who now is No. 4 in the world.

Spieth would have been 3. He was asked to confirm that he was still in diapers.

“I just came out of diapers a couple of years ago,” Spieth said with a laugh. “Let’s see, I was 3, almost 4. So I don’t know. Are kids still in diapers at 3?”