5 Things to Take Away from Tiger Woods' Masters Performance

The last time we checked in with Tiger Woods before his minus 5 performance at the Masters, he had dropped out of the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. ButWoods seemed confident heading into the PGA season's first major, and he showed us he had reason to be.

Here are five takeaways from Tiger's performance at the Masters:

1. Tiger feels competitive again.

Many were wondering before the tournament if Tiger's head was no longer in it. But Tiger showed he still has some resilience after a bone popped out of place on his wrist. Woods still had to finish the back nine, so he popped it back in place. The Tiger of two months ago would have walked back to the clubhouse.

2. Woods still lost by 13 strokes.

Woods may have finished tied for 17th, but he wasn't even close to Jordan Spieth and his record-setting performance. Spieth tied Tiger's 1997 record of 18 under, showing us that golf has some amazing talent coming up. If Tiger is going to win another major or two, he will have to compete with perhaps the most difficult competitive field of his career.

3. Tiger's short game is fixed ... for now.

Tiger was struggling with the chip yips before the Masters. He changed certain mechanics in his swing, and his short game was actually strong through his four rounds at Augusta. But as every golfer knows, when you fix one thing, something else has to go wrong.

4. Woods is probably too aggressive off the tee.

Since Tiger's struggles began back in 2008, we've seen him hit the ball into the trees far too many times off the tee. The Masters was no exception. Tiger may have fixed his short game, but his long game is always one shot away from being a disaster. Case in point: Because Tiger is Tiger, he still managed to birdie that hole, but Woods has to realize at some point he's 39 years old. He's going to keep getting injured if he keeps trying to launch it off the tee like he's 21 years old.

5. His greatness is dwindling, but it's still there.

Overall, Tiger's minus 5 performance was much better than most expected. Many were saying it would be a success if Woods just made the cut. But Tiger improved a little every day through the first three rounds and shot an impressive 4 under on the third day. Even when it seemed like things were falling apart in the final round, Tiger still managed to shoot a 73.

Give it time people; Tiger could be amazing by the time the US Open comes around.

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"5 Things to Take Away from Tiger Woods' Masters Performance"