Inside Tiger's Game

Ahead of his Masters defence now postponed, Tiger Woods spoke of his epic 2019 victory. We reveal what you can learn from his swing and take a look inside his new bag

Tiger Woods was supposed to drive his Mercedes courtesy car down Magnolia Lane as the Masters champion, preparing to compete for a sixth green jacket – victory would have put him on a par with Jack Nicklaus as the most successful player ever at Augusta National. We talked to Tour coaches and the men who helped him choose his equipment to get an insight into his game. But first, we spoke to the man himself about 2019, the state of his game now... and what he was going to serve at the Champion’s Dinner.

What was going through your mind when you missed that first putt on 18 during the final round last year?

The new green; that damn thing should have broke. I remember that putt breaking and it just didn’t break. No, but I was saying, ‘it’s not over yet, I’ve still got to make this putt. Come on, just keep it together. Keep focused. Go ahead and make sure that you commit’. And I did, and knocked it in. And God knows what I did after that.

Did you ever think back to your last win at Augusta in 2005?

I did. That was one of the reasons I was so focused [and] didn’t celebrate after I made birdie on 16 because I’d been in that situation before with Chris DiMarco. I had a two-shot lead and went bogey, a bogey, and ended up in a play-off.

A lot of fans speculate on how many Majors you might have won were it not for the years that you lost. Is that something you ever think about?