David Leggat: Masters an ironic choice for Tiger's comeback show

Four names: Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete and Tiger Woods.

Sifford won two US PGA Tour titles in 1967 and 1969; six years ago he was the first African-American inducted to the world golf Hall of Fame. He was never invited to the Masters.

Elder was, qualifying for the 1975 tournament, and becoming the first black to tee up since golfers began trekking up Magnolia Lane in 1934 for the most celebrated of the four majors.

In 1979 Elder, a four-time Tour winner, was also the first African-American to qualify for the Ryder Cup. A trailblazer for sure.

Peete had 12 Tour wins from 1979-86, the most successful non-white golfer until Woods rolled up. He appeared in eight Masters from 1980.

Now Woods is to return to the game at the most storied stretch of turf in the game, at least on that side of the Atlantic. He's done so because he knows he'll get all the protection he wants from those pesky types wanting either to enquire into topics Woods doesn't want to discuss, or give him gyp on the fairways.

Do so and they'll get deposited outside the gates, never to return.

For decades the good old white boys (and still no women allowed) of Augusta wouldn't have a bar of a black man within the grounds, other than to clean the toilets, sweep the floors and empty the trash.

Sifford should have played there; Elder broke the mould; Peete was a top class golfer.

So the choice of Augusta for the greatest of all black players to return from self-imposed time out - given the club's history towards blacks - is ironic, if not vaguely offensive.

The club who wouldn't have given Sifford the time of day and probably patted themselves on the back for their thoroughly generous gesture in deigning to permit Elder to play, will surround another black man with security and support usually afforded a head of state - and probably not all heads of state at that.

Woods, the control freak, is at it again. No wonder the other professionals are not exactly doing cartwheels at the idea of the Masters being turned into a Tiger enclosure.

Ernie Els has called him "selfish". Fine players in their own right, the rest of the field will be sideshows for the sake of the ego of the greatest of them.

And as a sidebar, how will the Augusta committee go about picking the two players to partner Woods on the first two days? Several are known not to fancy it, some do, maybe volunteers will be sought.

If, as Woods has said, the four major tournaments are his special focus, would he not have had at least one warmup tournament before Augusta to hone his preparation?

So is he being serious about a return to the game, or is this more about testing the waters in the most secure environment he'll get anywhere?

For a man whose mental strength leaning over a 10 foot birdie putt is legendary, Woods is completely unwilling to put himself up to public scrutiny away from the golf course.

His attitude, since being revealed as a serial shagger whose thinking off the course seemed to be done with his pants rather than his head, has been to thumb his nose at the world.

No golfer has ever won the Masters as their first tournament of a year.

Woods will tee up on April 8 chasing his fifth green jacket.

Win it and his standing as, at worst, one of the two greatest players won't change.

But there are reasons to hope he'll get flushed out of the tournament at the halfway mark. Just ask his fellow pros.