How Tiger stumbled, recovered and stayed in the mix at the Masters
Tiger Woods recovers from a second shot with an impressive chip, leading to his third birdie of the day. (0:32)
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Nothing was going to come easy for anyone on Friday at the Masters. Not with wind going between swirling and howling. For Tiger Woods, who hadn’t played in competitive golf since the November 2020 Masters, this was going to be a grind.
He started poorly. He found his game. He faltered again. He steadied himself once more.
Here is how Woods’ wild trip around Augusta National went down.
The sun was out. The wind was up. The conditions were perfect at Augusta National. When Woods arrived for his 1:41 p.m. ET tee time, these were he pin locations he had to navigate.
The hole locations for Masters Friday. #themasters pic.twitter.com/MRIWs7N9Du
Next on the tee …@TigerWoods pic.twitter.com/juKIDSVjo2
The first remained a problem for Woods. Just like in the first round, Woods was wide right off the tee. A day earlier, he was short of the bunker. This time, the ball made it there. His approach missed the green, forcing an early test of the short game that struggled he struggled with on Thursday. He failed to convert and opened his round with a bogey for the 23rd time. He now stands 17 over during his career on the first hole at Augusta National.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 1 over
Total for the tournament: Even
Woods decided on a different approach at the second, but got the same result. Instead of going with 3-wood, as he did Thursday, he chose driver and found his second consecutive fairway bunker in Round 2. From there, everything looked familiar — layup, so-so pitch, missed putt. He has not taken advantage of the par 5s so far at this Masters.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Total for the tournament: Even
Woods went conservative off the tee, opting for an iron. In perfect position, the wind grabbed his approach and pushed it right of the green. Just like at the first, he could not get up and down. This time a 7-footer for par slid by on the low side. A rough start, especially with the four-hole stretch that begins at the par-3 fourth.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
Another misfired iron from Woods required him to come up with some short-game magic. And he didn’t have any – again. His 30-footer to save par came up two rolls short. Woods hoped to make a move up the leaderboard on Friday. Instead, with three bogeys in four holes, he has to right things or the conversation will turn to whether he can make the cut.
Tiger Woods is 3-over through four holes, his worst score through four holes in 92 career rounds at the Masters Tournament.#theMasters
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 3 over
Total for the tournament: 2 over
Things haven’t gotten better for Woods. He made a mess of the fifth hole for a third consecutive bogey and fourth in five holes to start the round. Another missed drive – this one way, way right – forced a pitch out and ended with a missed 10-footer. Cut watch has officially begun.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 4 over
Total for the tournament: 3 over
Finally, Woods played a hole with little drama. At the par-3 sixth, which kick-started his round on Thursday thanks to a near ace, Woods found the lower shelf of the green. He produced a drama-free two-putt to get off the bogey train for the moment.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 over
Total for the tournament: 3 over
Two well-struck shots gave Woods a look at his first makeable birdie putt of the day. He hammered the 14-footer through the break, leaving a testy 5-footer coming back. He jammed that into the middle of the hole to save par. Had he missed, going from a good look for birdie to a three-putt bogey, would have been disastrous. Instead, he lost no ground as he continued to search for his game on Friday.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 over
Total for the tournament: 3 over
Sometimes it takes Woods one swing to figure it out. Maybe it was the iron into the par-3 sixth or the flushed wedge into the seventh. Neither led to birdies, but they clearly steadied Woods. At the eighth, finally, it came together. A solid tee shot, well-positioned layup and textbook up-and-down led to his first birdie of the day.
After early bogeys, Tiger Woods recovers a shot with a birdie on No. 8. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Id9T1GgSmI
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 3 over
Total for the tournament: 2 over
Woods pounded his biggest drive of the day, a 339-yard rocket down the hill at the ninth. From there, things got harder. He hated his second shot, allowing the club to fly out of his hands on the follow-through. Still, he found a way to make par and salvage a front nine that could have been worse. As he headed to the 10th tee, he stood just 5 shots out of the lead with a lot of golf still left.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 3 over
Total for the tournament: 2 over
If there was a question as to whether Woods has found his swing, the answer came in the 10th fairway. With 208 yards left and the pin tucked on the right side of the green, Woods opted not to play it safe. He took dead aim. The ball never left the flag and settled 3 feet from the hole. He calmly tapped in the gimme and walked to the 11th with a confident stride. It was the first time Woods birdied the 10th since 2013.
Tiger birdies the fifth hardest hole on the course today and is now one over par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/0gkW4mGRDz
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
A poor tee shot at the daunting 11th hole halted Woods’ momentum. He had an awkward lie — the ball on pine needles, his feet in the second cut — and Woods tried to hit a big cut to the front of the green. The approach came up short and Woods could not sneak away with par. It was his first bogey since his four-bogey-in-five-holes stretch at the start of his second round.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 3 over
Total for the tournament: 2 over
Woods stood on the 12th tee and had a long discussion with caddie Joe LaCava over club selection. The wind swirls around Amen Corner, so the decision isn’t an easy one. Woods grabbed 7-iron from 156 yards and airmailed the green. He got lucky and the ball rolled down the hill, away from the azaleas and into the back bunker. But a poor bunker shot resulted in a second consecutive bogey as and up-and-down round went down again.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 4 over
Total for the tournament: 3 over
Sometimes, even Tiger Woods, who has won the green jacket five times and 15 major titles overall, needs a little luck. He got some on the 13th. He wanted to hit a draw for his second shot into the par-5 13th. Instead, he fanned a 3-wood, struck so badly it went right of the tributary of Rae’s Creek that runs in front of the green. “Perfect layup,” he said sarcastically, and with a laugh, to LaCava. So instead of taking a penalty drop, he had a clean lie and a relatively easy chip. He snuggled it up close for an easy birdie. So instead of walking away with a third straight bogey, he made birdie and got some momentum back.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 3 over
Total for the tournament: 2 over
Five holes into the back nine and Wood did not have a par. He birdied the 10th, then the bogeyed the 11th and 12th. He recovered with a fortunate birdie at the 13th.? So which way would things go on the 14th? He hit a perfect drive and then, once again, showed his knowledge of Augusta National. His approach landed on the edge of the green, caught the slope and funneled toward the hole. He rolled in the 9-footer for his fourth birdie of the day.
Two in a row for Tiger Woods. He heads into No. 15 at one over par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/UrDj8t67qS
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
LaCava warned Woods at the top of the hill at the 15th that the wind was still a factor on the second shot into the par 5par-5. Woods striped a 3-wood, but it carried a little too far and trickled just over the back edge. That left a delicate little pitch down over the fringe and down the slope. He could not be aggressive. Despite being careful, the ball ran 17 feet past. Woods didn’t coax in the birdie putt, so he walked away with his first par of the second nine.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
Woods walked off the 16th green knowing he had missed an opportunity. If he was telling himself the truth, he knew he had missed two. He did not make birdie at the par-5 15th, a wasted chance. But he hit a stellar iron into the par-3 16th, perfectly using the ridge, just as he had in the final round when he won here for the fifth time in 2019. The ball stopped 11 feet from the hole, giving Woods an uphill look. The putt ran out of steam right at the end. He sighed. He knew that was a big miss.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
About 2 feet separated Woods from an easy par and big trouble. His ball hung in the fringe beside the 17th green instead of trickling down the hill. He made a routine two-putt par and walked to his final hole, safely inside the cut line.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Total for the tournament: 1 over
Woods couldn’t have an easy walk at the last. That’s just not how this Friday went. He had to work for it. He was again fooled by the wind, this time on his second shot into the last. He knocked it over the front tier, past the swale in the middle and landed on the back. The pin was on the very front. He had 63 feet left and was simply hoping for a two-putt par to end the day. He got it. He tipped his hat and walked up the hill. He will be around for the weekend.
Ready for the weekend. #themasters pic.twitter.com/asLLGvNC5U
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2-over 74
Total for the tournament: 1 over