Woods unable to gain ground on moving day
It was another tough, frustrating day for Tiger Woods in the 76th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. After shooting a 3-over-par 75 on Friday, the four-time champion posted an even-par 72 on Saturday, making two birdies and two bogeys.
“I was so close to putting it together today,” a disappointed Woods said afterward.
“Unfortunately I did not play the par 5s very well. I just didn’t take care of the opportunities when I had them.”
Woods usually feasts on the par 5s, but not this week. For the second consecutive day, he failed to birdie any of them, and is a combined 1-under for the week. His lone birdie came at the eighth hole during the first round.
In 17 previous appearances at Augusta National, Woods was a combined 84-under par on the 13th (-41) and 15th (-43) holes. He was also 27-under on the par-5 second and 22-under on the par-5 eighth.
“I would hit a couple of good shots in a row and compound the problem with a bad shot in the wrong spot,” said Woods. “Each pin, you have to miss the golf ball in a certain spot, and I have been missing the spots by a little bit here and there.”
An early starter with defending champion Charl Schwartzel, Tiger played to a 54-hole score of 3-over 219. He is tied for 38th. Peter Hanson leads the tournament at 9-under 207.
Once again, Woods got off to a promising start in the calm and sunny conditions. After parring the first two holes, he birdied the 350-yard, par-4 third hole for the third straight day, then followed with a rare birdie at the 240-yard, downhill, par-3 fourth. It was his first birdie there since 2002.
Unfortunately for Woods, he was unable to sustain his good play. He squandered a great birdie opportunity at the par-4 fifth, then three-putted from the fringe at the 180-yard, downhill, par-3 sixth, suffering his first bogey of the round. After pars at seven and eight, Tiger bogeyed the par-4 ninth for the second day in a row and made the turn in even-par 36.
No matter how hard he tried, Woods couldn’t generate any positive momentum on the back nine, recording nine consecutive pars. He did manage a chip-in at the tough, par-4 11th, but it was for a par.
After a poor drive into the trees at the par-5 13th, Tiger was forced to chip out into the fairway and failed to make birdie. Woods narrowly missed a birdie putt at the par-5 15th hole and dropped his putter in disbelief.
“It was just one thing after another,” he said.
Statistically, Woods hit 13 of 18 greens and 11 of 14 fairways in regulation and used 31 putts. Woods came into the tournament full of confidence after winning two weeks ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. But he has struggled with his swing all week, and it has rubbed off on his short game.
“I’m just trying to get back to how I had it at Bay Hill, and prior to Bay Hill,” said Woods. “I got here and, for some reason, I kind of fell into some of my old patterns again.”
Tiger’s frustration boiled over on the par-3 16th tee on Friday, when he blocked a poor 9-iron into the right greenside bunker and kicked his club in disgust.
“I apologize if I offended anybody by that,” he said. “I’ve hit some bad shots and it’s certainly frustrating at times not hitting the ball where you need to hit it. I certainly heard that people didn’t like me kicking the club, but I didn’t like it either. I hit it right in the bunker and it didn’t feel good on my toe either.”
