Opinion: It was hard to imagine we'd ever get this Tiger Woods back at the Masters

It doesn't matter if he wins.

I know that feels weird to say, and believe me, if Tiger Woods wins the Masters this weekend to grab his fifth green jacket, it will be beyond fantastic.

But it's sort of irrelevant. Merely by being there, and by being in the hunt, Woods has already gifted us something that, for a long time, we weren't sure if we would ever see again.

Tiger is back prowling at Augusta National. The Big Cat. Win or lose, it doesn't matter. He's there.

Just a couple years ago, it felt like we'd never seen this again. Woods' back was damaged and it didn't seem like it would get better.

The moment that really stuck out to me was at the 2016 Ryder Cup. Woods had been given an honorary vice captain role, a lovely gesture but one that felt a bit charitable, like they were helping a struggling buddy out. This was Tiger Woods, the most fearsome golfer to ever live, and he was there … giving pointers?

The younger golfers all treated him with complete respect, and clearly all worshipped him, but he was there as a past great. Someone talked about in the past tense. An aging legend who could give them some advice, maybe. Someone who had mattered before, but no longer.

I'll admit at that moment I wrote Woods off. He was too damaged, too injured. Maybe he'd take a few years off, finally get more or less healthy, maybe make a few runs at a leaderboard every couple of years when his back would allow it. But I thought: That's it.

One of the saddest parts of it all was watching this next generation of great golfers come up and thinking that they'd never get the chance to go against the real Tiger. Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm … all great golfers, all coming up and taking the sport over. Golf finally looked healthy again, but it left a sour taste to think that guys who had broken out after Tiger's last great year, 2013, would never get the chance to go up against him on Sunday.

Then, like that, it all changed. Woods got his back right. His swing came back. The putter got going.

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He's doing it. Not for a random charge up a leaderboard when the back loosens up every few months. He's back. Actually back. Consistently competing back.

And because he's back, the Masters feels different. It all feels more special. Seeing Woods battle with Koepka and Johnson, it's like we get to watch Michael Jordan take on Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The fact that he's there, and competing, makes it all the more fun.

Win, lose, it doesn't matter. Even if he blows up today and misses the cut, Woods will have given us something to care about, and given us something we thought, just a few years ago, we'd never see again. Tiger BACK.