Brennan: Tiger Woods needs to play Masters next week

Play, Tiger, play.
Play the Masters next week.
Play it even if you're not sure that you've completely figured out your short game. We've already seen you at your worst this year, chunking and skulling the ball over and around the greens at Phoenix and Torrey Pines, and we still want to see you try again.
Play it because watching you remains one of our favorite pastimes, whether it's to cheer you on or root for you to finish last. You're relevant. You still matter to people. That's a gift that doesn't last forever.
Play it because you almost always fare better at the Masters than most people think you will. In this century, you've won it three times and finished in the top 10 eight more times. In the nine years since you last won this tournament, in 2005, you've finished out of the top 10 only twice, which includes last year when you didn't play after having back surgery.

Play it because if you do show up, no one really thinks you will play well, which will make it all the better for you if you do. The Masters was made for you, and you for it. Take 2010. Your life was a shambles after the 2009 Thanksgiving weekend nightmare of your own doing, and you came to the Masters having not played in a tournament all year. So what do you do? You shoot 68-70-70-69 and finish tied for fourth.



Play it because you missed it last year and you can't miss it again this year. Here's why. You're 39. You love the place, and you'll only have so many chances to play it in your best years. Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at 46, and perhaps you will, too, but it's certainly not going to get easier to win as the years go by.

So play it once more before you turn 40.

Unless you're hurt, or worried that you could re-injure your back, play it, Tiger. For heaven's sake, it's the Masters and you're you. It would be almost un-American to not have you there.

Astute readers familiar with the dozens of critical columns I've written about Tiger over the past 15 years might wonder if this is an April Fools' Day joke.

It is not. The Masters needs Tiger Woods. And he needs the Masters. His game is in trouble. He shot a career-high 82 in late January, then withdrew on the 12th hole of the first round the next week with stiffness in his back. And that was the last we've seen of him this year.

FOR THE WIN

9-year-old Rory McIlroy to Tiger Woods: 'I'm coming to get you'

For the first time in his career, he looks truly lost on a golf course. Some wonder if he'll ever get back to some semblance of normalcy. It's a valid question.

So he needs to go to a place where he will always be welcomed. He needs to go to a place he knows as well as any course on Earth. He needs to go home.

Augusta National Golf Club will always open its doors to Tiger, and has ever since his first major victory, at 21 in 1997, when he won by 12 shots.

If Tiger doesn't show up, the Masters will carry on, of course, but it won't have the same energy. Rory is young and interesting and going for the career Grand Slam, but he doesn't come close to moving the needle the way Tiger does. Phil is Phil, as entertaining and appealing as any golfer of this era, but he's still not Tiger.

Tiger's presence makes every tournament eminently more fascinating, and will continue to do so until we are certain he can't be competitive anymore. That day has not yet arrived.

So, Tiger, what else do you have to do next Thursday and Friday? (And perhaps Saturday and Sunday?)

Brennan: Tiger Woods needs to play Masters next week

Play, Tiger, play.
Play the Masters next week.
Play it even if you're not sure that you've completely figured out your short game. We've already seen you at your worst this year, chunking and skulling the ball over and around the greens at Phoenix and Torrey Pines, and we still want to see you try again.
Play it because watching you remains one of our favorite pastimes, whether it's to cheer you on or root for you to finish last. You're relevant. You still matter to people. That's a gift that doesn't last forever.
Play it because you almost always fare better at the Masters than most people think you will. In this century, you've won it three times and finished in the top 10 eight more times. In the nine years since you last won this tournament, in 2005, you've finished out of the top 10 only twice, which includes last year when you didn't play after having back surgery.

Play it because if you do show up, no one really thinks you will play well, which will make it all the better for you if you do. The Masters was made for you, and you for it. Take 2010. Your life was a shambles after the 2009 Thanksgiving weekend nightmare of your own doing, and you came to the Masters having not played in a tournament all year. So what do you do? You shoot 68-70-70-69 and finish tied for fourth.

5 things you need to know Thursday

1. New York Auto Show: It's cars, cars, cars in the Big Apple

It's New York's turn to shine on the auto show circuit, with more than 60 new vehicles to reveal to the media before the New York Auto Show opens its doors to the public on Friday. Cars getting buzz already? A sporty new concept Honda Civic; the updated Hyundai Tucson; Lexus' RX luxury crossover SUV; a new Chevy Malibu ... and of course, the return of the Lincoln Continental. Media access started Wednesday and continues Thursday. The show runs through April 12.

A 2016 Toyota Scion iM is on display on April 1at the New York International Auto Show. (Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

2. New Jersey Sen. Menendez scheduled to appear in court

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez is expected to appear in a Newark courtroom on Thursday following his indictment on corruption charges. Federal prosecutors charged him and wealthy donor Salomon Melgen on Wednesday with participating in a long-running bribery scheme. A 68-page indictment outlines 14 criminal counts against Menendez, 61, including eight counts of bribery. Melgen, a 61-year-old West Palm Beach, Fla., ophthalmologist, faces 13 counts. Menendez has vowed to fight the charges.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., leaves a Newark news


3. Iran nuke talks extended to Thursday

The United States and five other world powers are negotiating with Iran on an agreement that limits Iran's nuclear program to peaceful purposes and ensures it does not develop nuclear weapons. Those talks will continue Thursday, after being extended twice past Tuesday's deadline. Marie Harf, spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said Wednesday that progress is being made but a "political understanding" had not been reached. The talks have proceeded under a six-month agreement signed in November 2013 that has been extended several times already and is now due to expire June 30.

Here are five major issues that are at the center of Iran's nuclear deal. VPC

4. Deal on Ind. 'religious freedom' law expected Thursday

Indiana Republican leaders are set to announce a deal Thursday morning that alters the state's controversial "religious freedom" law to ensure it does not discriminate against gay and lesbian customers of Indiana businesses. The proposal — which grants new protections for LGBT customers, employees and tenants — is set for a 9 a.m. ET rollout at the Statehouse and a 9:30 a.m. committee hearing. The measure could put to rest some of the harsher criticisms that Indiana Republicans have suffered through in the past week. But it is unlikely to make either liberal or conservative activists happy.
Thousands of opponents of Indiana's Religious Freedom

Thousands of opponents of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act gather on the lawn of the Indiana State House to rally against that legislation. (Photo: AP)

5. Mom of children found in Detroit freezer set to appear in court
The mother of two children found in a deep freezer in a Detroit apartment is expected to appear in court Thursday on murder charges. Mitchelle Blair was already facing child abuse charges. On Wednesday, prosecutors announced she was also being charged with two counts each of felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder and torture in the deaths of her children Stoni Ann Blair and Stephen Gage Berry. They were found last week at their apartment by a crew carrying out an eviction. Blair is being held on a $1 million bond.
Mitchelle Blair, 35, who is already facing child abuse

Mitchelle Blair, 35, who is already facing child abuse charges, also is being charged with murder in the deaths of her children Stoni Blair and Stephen Berry. The children were found in a deep freezer on March 24, 2015. (Photo: Detroit Police Department)

Bonus: Celebs go head-to-head on Spike TV's 'Lip Sync Battle'

Lip Sync Battle starts Thursday night with hosts LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen. The show was thought up by Stephen Merchant, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, who participated in one of the first-ever Jimmy Fallon lip sync battles on Late Night back in 2013. (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shared a short teaser for his appearance on the new show on Instagram, and the Internet ate it up.) The show airs at 10 p.m. ET on Spike TV.

And, the essentials:

Weather: More thunderstorms will rattle the central U.S. on Thursday, while most of the East Coast and Southeast will be mild to warm.

The national weather forecast for Thursday, April 2 calls for showers and storms in the Central Plains and rain in the Ohio Valley. VPC

Stocks: U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday.

TV Tonight: Can't decide what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy and Elementary.

If you missed this Wednesday's news, we've got you covered here.

Need a break? Try playing some of our games.

5 things you need to know Thursday

1. New York Auto Show: It's cars, cars, cars in the Big Apple

It's New York's turn to shine on the auto show circuit, with more than 60 new vehicles to reveal to the media before the New York Auto Show opens its doors to the public on Friday. Cars getting buzz already? A sporty new concept Honda Civic; the updated Hyundai Tucson; Lexus' RX luxury crossover SUV; a new Chevy Malibu ... and of course, the return of the Lincoln Continental. Media access started Wednesday and continues Thursday. The show runs through April 12.

Al-Qaeda frees 300 inmates from Yemeni jail

Security officials say al-Qaeda militants in Yemen have stormed the center of the coastal city of al-Mukalla and freed about 300 inmates, including scores of militants, and that Shiite rebels have fought their way into the heart of Aden to the west.


The officials say al-Qaeda militants were deployed on Thursday across major roads leading into al-Mukalla in an apparent bid to thwart any attempt to retake the city.
The capture of al-Mukalla comes as a Saudi-led air campaign targeting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, enters its second week.
The Houthis and their allies breached the defenses of forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in the coastal city of Aden on Thursday, reaching the city center.

Al-Qaeda frees 300 inmates from Yemeni jail

Security officials say al-Qaeda militants in Yemen have stormed the center of the coastal city of al-Mukalla and freed about 300 inmates, including scores of militants, and that Shiite rebels have fought their way into the heart of Aden to the west.

Fiorina backs religious freedom law, marriage equality

Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina defends Indiana's "religious freedom" law, but she acknowledges the right of same-sex couples to demand equality in the "benefits" government bestows with marriage — views that distinguish her in the party's 2016 field. 


Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who plans to launch a long-shot presidential bid by early next month, didn't explicitly endorse same-sex marriage, but she did outline a stance more moderate and nuanced than those expressed by her prospective rivals.
She blasted business leaders in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who have criticized the Indiana law as discriminatory, questioning why there isn't similar outrage "about the subjugation of the rights of women and gays in many countries in which these companies do business."
"We are having now a clarifying debate about what is really at stake here for gay couples," she told USA TODAY's weekly video newsmaker series. "What's really at stake here for gay couples is how government bestows benefits. What's really at stake here for people of religious conviction is their conviction that marriage is a religious institution because only a man and a woman can create life, which is a gift that comes from God.