Cote: No Tiger or Phil at Masters reminds us how hard it is to let go | Opinion
Saying goodbye in sports can be hard, as difficult for the athletes as it is for the fans. The stars are clinging to their very identity; we fans are clinging to what we have cheered for so long, someone interwoven into our lives almost like family. As one example, haven’t we been in a gradual farewell with LeBron James for what seems five years now?
In Miami we remember what it was like to watch Dan Marino’s last game, or Dwyane Wade’s. To say goodbye. The decades fly by but the emotion never changes. Too soon will arrive Lionel Messi’s turn to lapse into memory.
More than 40 years ago, I was in my 20s, alone in my first apartment, too old to cry but crying anyway watching Carl Yastrzemski play his final game for the Red Sox. He was my first hero in sports. He felt so much a part of my childhood it’s as if he helped raise me. In shoeboxes somewhere in that apartment were all the old baseball cards I had collected, including Yaz’s covered rookie card.
Nobody wants to let go, not the player on that card and not the fans collecting memories.
This brings us to The Masters, our most reverently held major event in golf, and perhaps any sport. The tournament runs Thursday through Sunday at Augusta, Georgia, only it’s different this time — different in a way it has not been in more than 30 years. Because, for the first time since 1994, neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson will be playing.
The absence of golf’s last two giants from a different time makes this Masters smaller, diminished, as if the void is helping us prepare for the inevitable as this era’s two most popular stars disappear by degrees.
This tournament itself magnifies the emotion of it. This is an 18-hole emerald shrine. Hear the TV announcers speak in rhapsody as they describe the azaleas and Amen Corner — the history of the place. And that green jacket, a coat otherwise ugly until you win it, and it becomes a magical raiment as you float into it.
Woods won five Masters jackets and Mickelson three.
Tiger introduced himself to America by winning the 1997 Masters at age 22 by an astounding 12 strokes. He would win his fifth and last as recently as 2019, turning back time for what would be his 15th and final major win, second all time only to Jack Nicklaus. That ‘97 triumph and what followed was bigger-than-sports stuff as Woods brought welcome color to a sport white as that dimpled ball, and inspiring young multitudes suddenly interested in golf.
Mickelson’s three Masters are half of his total majors won but “Lefty’s” popularity was rivaled only by that of Tiger.
Woods has missed six Masters through the years including this one due to injuries. Mickelson before this one had missed only one Masters in his career, in 2022 during his dalliance with PGA Tour rival LIV Golf. They had never both missed the same Masters until now.
The reasons for their absences are notable as Mickelson turns 56 in June and Woods is now 50.
Woods, prone in recent years to appearing in unfortunate headlines, is of course Woods seeking treatment following his March 27 arrest for suspicion of driving while impaired during a rollover car crash. Woods has endured multiple back and leg injuries and surgeries and developed what seems quite apparent to be an addiction with pain pills. He planned to play the Masters this week before his latest mishap.
Mickelson announced only last week that he would be away from golf “for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter” about which he has not disclosed specifics.
Theirs reminds us of our own mortality, and how no amount of riches or fame derived in sports can shield one from the real-life issues that can affect us all.
As fellow golfer Jason Day put it, speaking of Woods: “It just shows the human element and the human side of someone that is struggling with some sort of an addiction. “He’s not immune to it just because he can hit a golf ball really well.”
It probably isn’t the healthiest sign for the state of golf, but these two stars in their 50s remain hugely important to their sport. For many of us golf’s current biggest stars such as Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm do not have the charisma or it factor.
“Obviously there’s two that won’t be with us this year, which is a shame,” reigning Masters champ Rory McIlroy, probably the game’s most popular figure in their absence, said at this week’s Masters champions dinner. “ But hopefully they will be with us in the future, and I’m sure they will be.”
Said 2018 Masters champ Patrick Reed at the dinner: “Let’s be honest, without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the events, when they both step away, honestly I feel it hurts the game of golf.”
“Titans of the game for the last three decades,” Justin Rose called the pair. ”Their stature is way more elevated in the game of golf and always will be.”
Woods of course has disappointed many of his fans for years, starting with his infamous infidelity issues before the injuries and painkillers derailed him. Mickelson turned off many fans with his jump to LIV Golf. But both aging stars still have legions rooting for them because in both we want to still the greatness, the better days, not the human frailty.
We want to see them back out there at Augusta, with a chance on Sunday, making time stop, making us all feel young again.
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 3:07 PM.
