Tiger Woods reaffirms he’ll only play as long as he can win, even Masters

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Tiger Woods said long ago he would give up golf when he felt he could play his best and still not win. 

 

That includes his lifetime invitation to the Masters. 

 

"Let me put it to you this way," Woods said last week at his Northwestern Mutual World Challenge. "I'm not going to beat Arnold's record. I'm not playing that long, that's for sure." 

 

Palmer set a record in 2004 by playing in his 50th consecutive Masters. Woods won his first green jacket when he was 21, and with reasonable health (a big assumption considering his injuries), he would seem to be in the best position to break that record. Even with his injuries, the Masters is the one major Woods has never missed. 

 

He just doesn't appear the least bit interested in that kind of a record. 

 

"For me, I always want to win," he said. "So if I can't win, why tee it up? That's just my own personal belief. And I know what it takes to prepare to win and what it takes to go out there and get the job done, and there's going to become a point in time where I just can't do it anymore. We all as athletes face that moment. I'm a ways from that moment in my sport, but when that day happens, I'll make a decision and that's it." 

 

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But for Woods or any golfer, it's tough to know when that day happens. 

 

Palmer never won another PGA Tour event after the Bob Hope Classic in 1973, though he remained competitive for many years. Several players eligible for the Champions Tour are hesitant about moving on. 

 

When is it time? 

 

"In golf, you can still win golf tournaments in your 50s, and guys have done it," Woods said. "Probably the more difficult thing is that you can still finish top 10, top five, but you're probably just not quite as efficient as you need to be to win golf tournaments. But you can still be there." 

 

Might he change his mind about the Masters as he gets older? It doesn't sound like it. 

 

"Mellowing on that? No. I'll be on that first tee starting out the event, I'm sure," he said with a smile and a dose of sarcasm. "So I mean, you hit a good drive and you can't get to where you can see the flag? I don't know why it's even fun."