Tiger's return, McIlroy's missing major and undercooked DeChambeau: Masters talking points

After the hype and the hullabaloo of the past week at Augusta National, finally came the confirmation. Woods, age 46 and not even 14 months since a terrifying car crash threatened to take his right leg, will be playing in the Masters – provided Wednesday’s final nine holes of practice go well.

The 15-time major champion announced at Tuesday’s pre-tournament press conference that he was set to compete, marking his return to competitive golf for the first time since the final round of the 2020 Masters, held in November that year. As if the golf world was not whipped into enough of a frenzy following Woods’ arrival in Augusta last week.

Now, though, attention turns to what sort of performance we can expect from a man with a penchant for the phenomenal. True to form, Woods says he is gunning for Green Jacket No 6 this week and, while that seems somewhat fanciful, he can never really be written off.

Of course, he knows the track better than most, and arguably no one in the history of the game has displayed as much drive and determination. Yet four rounds of competitive golf across Augusta National’s rolling hills will clearly test his leg, and stamina.

When McIlroy landed the Open in 2014, the career grand slam seemed a cert. The Northern Irishman had won three of golf’s four majors, meaning he required only the Masters to become the sixth male in history to have completed the set (the others being Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods).

From the outset, the Masters always felt his surest path to major glory: McIlroy’s game is undoubtedly suited to Augusta, as was evidenced as early as 2011, when he held a four-shot lead heading into the final round but collapsed to finish tied-15th.

However,