In Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne's almost 10 years in charge of the Masters, he hasn't seen Tiger Woods win a green jacket.
Payne took over in May 2006; Woods in 2005 capped a streak of three wins in five Masters. Woods hasn't won at the Georgia course since — scandal and injuries blew his career off-course. Woods' last victory in any tournament was in 2013.
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Tiger Woods and Billy Payne (Getty Images)
Yet even in the face of that drought and Woods' inability to offer a timetable for his return from injury to competitive golf, Payne tells GolfWeek that he believes Tiger has another tournament win in him.
GW: We saw Tiger Woods last month talk about the uncertainty of his future. Does that concern you? Do you think we'll see him back?
BP: Yes. I've answered that question a thousand times the last several years, and I have predicted not only will we see him back, we'll see him win again. He's that extraordinary a talent. I know he's had a lot of medical issues, but he's just so good. So, yes, we'll see Tiger re-emerge as a great player, certainly.
Payne, 68, can empathize with Woods on one count: He had back surgery in November that prevents him from playing golf.
Asked by GolfWeek about his timetable, Payne might have inadvertently made a comment on Woods: "The doctor and I had a bit of an argument about it. I think, to be safe, it's going to be … I'd like to do it before the Masters. I'm not sure I will. I have a wife on the other side that's more conservative than the doctor."
The 2016 Masters, first of the year's four major golf tournaments, begins April 7.
