Masters isn't the same with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson missing from Augusta

Tiger Woods is everywhere and nowhere at Augusta National this week.

In the wake of last month’s rollover car accident and DUI charge, the five-time Masters winner has stepped away from golf indefinitely and reportedly could be receiving treatment in Switzerland for an addiction to painkillers.

“He’s not immune to it just because he can hit a golf ball really well,” fellow competitor Jason Day said. “He’s had 25 to 30-something surgeries, and when you’re going through that many procedures, it’s painful coming out of those procedures. I’ve had procedures done and I typically try and stay away from all that stuff because I just know that — painkillers, there can potentially be a downfall to it.”

Read more: Tiger Woods told deputy he was ‘talking to the president’ before his arrest

Harris English, playing in his seventh Masters, said he took an interest in golf after watching Woods at Augusta in 1997.

“I know he’s going to get through this,” English said. “He has a big fight ahead of him. He’s a fighter. That’s what he does. He’s going to get through it and come out a better man and a better person. We hope to see him soon.”

This marks the first time since 1994 that neither Woods nor Phil Mickelson is playing in the Masters. Mickelson announced last week that he was pulling out of the tournament because of a “personal health matter” in his family.

In one sense, it’s the end of a storied era. But it might be more on the minds of the patrons than the other competitors in the field.

“With great respect to those two players, I hadn’t thought about it,” said Justin Rose, who lost to Rory McIlroy in a Masters playoff last year. “Yeah, they’ve both been obviously titans of the game for the last three decades. Clearly in a tournament like this, if you’re a past champion, you get an opportunity to come back — whether they’re 1,000 in the world or 500 in the world or whatever current rankings may be, their stature is way more elevated than that in the game of golf and always will be.

“Yeah, it’s always a loss to not have either of them in a field anywhere. To your point, I hadn’t noticed it yet. Therefore, we’re all kind of in our own lane, so to speak.”

Phil Mickelson tees off during the U.S. Open in June 2025. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson said in the case of Woods, golf isn’t — and shouldn’t be — part of the discussion.

“I [couldn’t] care less about Tiger’s golf,” Watson said. “I’ve always been in his ear. I told him that I wanted to be here for his next major. I was here in ’19. We were in the champions locker and I made a lot of the champions come down to congratulate him. That was very emotional.

“I told him from Day 1 that we started hanging out back in ’06, ’07, somewhere in there, that I’m pulling for him as a human being — forget his golf.”

Woods, 50, was arrested March 27 on Jupiter Island, Fla., following a two-car rollover crash. Deputies said they found two hydrocodone pills in his pocket and noticed he was lethargic and sweating profusely. He recently underwent his seventh back surgery.

“When I look at that, I look at it and go, he’s just a human being like everyone else and we have struggles,” Day said. “It’s unfortunate. The only thing that I don’t understand is that it’s a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm’s way as well. But when you’re the player that he was and how strong-willed he is, he thinks he can do almost anything, and that’s probably why he’s probably driving a little under the influence.”

Read more: Tiger Woods failed a sobriety test and possessed hydrocodone pills, affidavit says

Day said it’s most important for Woods to know he has so many people pulling for him.

“It must be tough to be isolated the way he is normally,” he said. “He stays at home pretty much most of the time, doesn’t really get out too much just because of how popular he is as a person. And then when you’re at home, it’s just difficult. Sometimes you don’t have people around — loving people around enough — to be able to steer you in the direction that you need to.

“Golf misses him. We miss him here this week. It’s always better when he’s playing golf tournaments because we love having him around. So it’s a little bit sad to not have him here this week.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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