Toms' early win is a good start
He was four months removed from surgery for bone spurs in his left wrist, and it showed at Augusta National Golf Club.
He shot 78-73-151 and missed the cut for the first time since 1999.
"I guess I wasn't totally healthy and hadn't played much good golf going in," Toms said. "It was one of those times last year when I wasn't playing very good and I didn't have a good week."
Six weeks later, Toms was back in form, defending his title easily at the St. Jude Classic.
Still, his slow start relegated him to 22nd on the money list at the end of the year, his first finish outside the top 10 on that list since 2000.
This season, he played some of the best golf of his career in winning the Match Play Championship in late February, beating Chris DiMarco , 6 and 5.
It was Toms' first World Golf Championships title.
"I played very well, probably the best I've ever played for that many holes in a row," Toms said. "I took a lot away from that."
It was Toms' 11th win on the PGA Tour - including the 2001 PGA Championship - and the first time he's won a tournament in a season before the Masters.
"I'd never won early in the season, so obviously I feel a little bit better about (the Masters) this year at this time than I did last year," Toms said. "I can only use that as a stepping stone to hopefully do something special this year."
Winning the Masters would definitely qualify in that regard. Toms will have a better chance if it doesn't rain during the tournament.
Toms isn't one of the longer hitters on the tour (he ranked 117th last year), and when Augusta National is wet - as it has been for the past three years - it plays longer than its 7,290 yards.
"If it's wet, it affects my game a lot," Toms said. "I have a lot of long clubs in and a lot of tough holes. I'd like to play it one year where it actually gets pretty firm and fast and see how my game stacks up."
Toms has to be sharp in every other department to win tournaments.
"There are times when I'm certainly behind the 8-ball with my ability to play some of the courses that we play," Toms said. "I can't have an off-day and win. I have to play well the whole time."
The Match Play victory moved Toms back into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking. With his poor play early in the 2004 season, which can be traced to lack of strength in his tender left wrist, Toms had dropped to 19th at the end of the year.
"To be honest, my desire is to be a top-10 player every year," Toms said. "I feel like from a skill level, from a physical standpoint, if I'm playing well, I can be a top-10 player in the world.
"As far as top five, I feel like I have limitations," Toms said. "Year in and year out, week after that, there are just a handful of guys that are just better than I am."
DiMarco, who played against Toms in college and was routed in the Match Play Championship final, disagrees.
"I think everyone kind of forgets about him a little bit because of (the wrist injury)," DiMarco said. "You don't forget about David Toms , because he's a good player. He's definitely a top-five player in the world, without a doubt."
The $1.3 million windfall for winning the Match Play Championship pushed Toms' career earnings in 13 years on the tour to more than $20 million. Only five players are ahead of him.
"I think that's just a direct reflection of what the purses have done the past four or five years," Toms said.
