Tiger Roundup And Poll: Will He Play The Masters?

Thanks to John Strege for a few links on Tiger's late Friday announcement that he's skipping Bay Hill to keep finding his game.

Frankly, it's not easy finding stories trying to decipher the latest statement. Can you blame golf's scribblers? Who wants to spend a Friday evening trying to understand how a talent as giant as Tiger has, apparently, lost his game to the point that it's an hour-by-hour question as to whether he can find a game to get around Bay Hill. Where he's won eight times.

Bob Harig quotes agent Mark Steinberg, who reinforces how hard Tiger is working.

"He's grinding. He's really, really working," his agent, Mark Steinberg, told ESPN.com. "Everyone knows he's working toward the Masters, he wants to play there. But having said that, he really wanted to play in the worst way [at Bay Hill]. He wanted to play at Honda."

If the desire is indeed there, that's unfortunately for Tiger and a sad day for fans. Tim Rosaforte's Golf Central report on Medalist sightings confirms that Tiger has been hard at work but the scores when playing haven't been "in the mid-60s."

His life guru talked about recent practice sessions with Woods, and Notah Begay confirms in the nicest way possible that the short game issues are lingering. From Cameron Morfit's golf.com assessment:

"I spent quite a bit of time the last couple of weeks down at Tiger’s house, trying to be a good running mate and going through workouts and practicing with him," said Notah Begay, Woods' longtime friend and former college teammate. "I can attest to the fact that things are improving and that he is putting in some solid workdays. It is just not at the status that he wants it."

Morfit predicts Woods will not add one of the two Texas events prior to the Masters but writes:

The last time Woods parachuted into Augusta without having played a Tour event all year was 2010, when he returned from his sex scandal.

He tied for fourth.

However, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner adds...

Back then his personal life was in disarray, but his world-class game remained intact, only months removed from a six-win PGA Tour season. Best we can tell, the opposite is true here.

I'm of the view that Woods won't play the Masters, should not play, and based on the peculiar dramas of 2015, will only find more misery if he tries to play with a rusty, iffy game. His team's claims of hard work along with the decision to wait until as close as possible to Bay Hill's entry deadline appear meant to give sponsors the impression they will get value for their investment at some point.

And while I know some are tired of Tiger talk, this bizarro will-he-or-won't-he drama appears unprecedented in the annals of All Time Greats. (Well, unless you count when he was in rehab and reappeared at the 2010 Masters).

This is the simple poll question, will Tiger play the 2015 Masters (the issue of should he play is for another day).