AUGUSTA, Georgia – In each of the previous four years, Justin Thomas has played practice rounds at Augusta National Golf Club with two former Masters champions – Fred Couples and Tiger Woods.
Thomas said Couples, the 1992 Masters winner, blew him off Tuesday morning.
“He did not feel like getting up in the early cold weather this morning, so I gave him grief,” Thomas said. “I do not know if he would have convicted me if Tiger had been with me, but he did.”
Woods, a five-time Masters champion who last won the tournament in 2019, is at home in Florida recovering from serious injuries he sustained on Feb. 23 in a single wreck outside Los Angeles.
He took to social media on Tuesday afternoon and said he would miss Dustin Johnson’s account on Tuesday night during the Champions Dinner.
Think of my guy @tigerwoods during this week @themasters. I miss you tonight during dinner. Not the same without you. pic.twitter.com/AigjVx2HIZ
– fredcouplesgolf (@fredcouplesgolf) 6 April 2021
Thomas said he hung out with Woods several times last week and exchanged text messages with him on Friday morning.
“He said it was kind of starting to get started,” Thomas said. “He is shocked that he is not playing practice rounds with us here, and we hate that too.”
Woods, 45, underwent emergency surgery for several hours to repair doctors who had “significant orthopedic injuries” to his right leg and ankle. According to doctors, Woods suffered fine fractures – bones broken in more than two pieces and with skin fractures – in the upper and lower part of the tibia and fibula of his right leg.
Woods is not expected to attend Tuesday night’s Championships hosted by Dustin Johnson. Woods hosted the event in November 2020 during the Pandemic-Delayed Masters.
Couples, 61, posted a photo on Twitter Tuesday night in which he and another member of his team wore Tiger masks.
Think of my guy @tigerwoods during this week @themasters. I miss you tonight during dinner. Not the same without you. pic.twitter.com/AigjVx2HIZ
– fredcouplesgolf (@fredcouplesgolf) 6 April 2021
Rory McIlroy, who also lives in South Florida, said he visited Woods at his home for a few hours on March 21.
“It was good to see him in a decent mood and not really like … like when you hear about these things and look at the car and see the accident, it’s like you think he’s going to be in a hospital bed for six months, “McIlroy said.” But he’s actually doing better. “
McIlroy said Woods will be missed during the tournament he most liked to play.
“If Tiger Woods sets it up in a golf tournament, it’s better,” McIlroy said. “It’s better for the tournament. It’s better for the players involved. It’s better for everyone. Unfortunately he is not here this year. Hopefully, who will know he can go well, he can return in 12 months. But yes, he always missed out when he did not play in these big events.
“I know he’s home and that he’s fully focused on the recovery process, and I feel he’s mentally strong enough to get through it. And once he does, broken bones are healed, and he just has to walk it. take a step back. “
Thomas said: “I would say the thing for him is that he has unfortunately already been through rehabilitation processes.”
On January 19, Woods announced that he had undergone a microdiscectomy to relieve nerve pain in his lower back. He had it done three times before – once in the spring of 2014 and twice in the fall of 2015. He had a spinal fusion in April 2017 that prevented him from swinging a golf club for six months.
Woods returned from surgery in 2018 and won the Tour Championship that year, followed by the Masters in 2019 and the Zozo Championship later that year.
Thomas said he told Woods, one of his good friends, that he would do whatever he needed to help.
“It’s just what I want to do for him, it’s just like, ‘Dude, I’m going to do anything you want. If you need me to help your kids, I can do it. If you fancy McDonald’s and “You want me to pass this on, guys, I do not care. I’m here for you, and I’ll help out as much as I can,” Thomas said.
One thing that McIlroy took away from his visit was that Woods’ trophy cabinet is in the family room of his home, and Rory could not help but notice that it only contained the trophies won at 15 major championships.
“It’s really cool,” McIlroy told Woods. “Where are all the others?”
McIlroy said Woods told him he did not know where they were, and that his mother had a few and a few were everywhere. ‘
“I drove home, and I thought that’s all he cared about,” McIlroy said. ‘How easy it must have felt for him to win all the others.
“It was just always in my mind, he talked about it being the four weeks that matter. … The other things must have been like exercise. Yes, that’s all I could think of on the way home. And I was glad he was okay too. ‘