Begay: Woods is ’50/50′ to play in the Masters

First, the bad news: Tiger Woods’ friend and Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay III believes the 14-time major winner is a “50/50 chance” to play in the Masters in two weeks.

Now, the good news: Begay’s analysis has improved the odds from a “1-in-10” shot just three weeks ago.

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“I think his golf game as a whole is in a great place,” Begay said in a 120 Sports interview. “I think it was good for him to take a step back and assess a variety of things and do things on his timeline. It’s easy to get bullied into trying to acquiesce to the media’s concerns, or the PGA Tour’s concerns, or other people’s agendas.”

Woods said Feb. 11 that he would not play tournament golf again until his game was “tournament ready.” He’s skipped The Honda Classic, played in his adopted hometown, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he was won a record eight times. Ranked 96th in this week’s Official World Golf Ranking, Woods didn’t even qualify for the WGC-Cadillac Championship earlier in the month.

Begay insisted he’s seen Woods get better, particularly in his mental approach.

“I don’t know there was any one thing in specific that a player looks at,” Begay said, “but it’s simply something a player feels when they step on a golf course and they feel like they can go out there and defend themselves.”

However, what Begay said is somewhat contradictory. If Woods’ game is in a “great place,” then he shouldn’t be a coin flip to play the first major of the year, right?

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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