Has Tiger just been delaying the inevitable?

It is getting close to decision time for Tiger Woods if he is going to tee it up at The Masters.

If this was any other tournament, there is no way that Tiger would play. But it’s incredibly hard to resist the lure of Augusta, no matter the state of your game.

However, the signs are not promising. The fact that Woods opted to miss Bay Hill last week was a huge clue as to how things are going.

Tiger has won that event eight times, it’s Arnold Palmer’s tournament and it is only a 30-minute drive from his own home.

Despite all those factors in his favour, especially being able to sleep in his own bed, he still didn’t want to commit.

But if he is to play at Augusta, we don’t want to see the Tiger we saw at Phoenix and Torrey Pines, of missing the cut, walking off the course, duffing chips and hitting the ball all over the place.

My big concern is that his game must be a long way from being perfect indeed it might never be perfect again.

In 2010, Woods returned at Augusta after being absent for five months due to his off-course problems and finished fourth.

However, he didn’t hit the ball too well that week though he could hole a putt or produce a good chip when needed.

Now, if he loses his chipping and putting, there is nowhere left to go because his long game is so unreliable.

If you’re playing badly, Augusta will ruthlessly expose those weaknesses. You are constantly out of position, faced with one-near impossible shot after another.

And there is not one student of the game who thinks Tiger would do anything but struggle if he plays at The Masters.

What we have seen in 2015 is not encouraging and his swing looks to have deteriorated even more. He is trying to hit the ball too hard and being out-driven is really bothering him.

But he won’t improve properly until he gets back on the course and away from the comfort zone of the range.

Whatever he has been working on at home in Florida won’t be properly tested until he is next in tournament conditions.

Tiger is almost delaying the inevitable. He knows the spotlight will be on him when he does return and he might not be able to cope with that pressure.

That’s because we could be witnessing a special golfer in terminal decline.