1-under 71 Friday has Tiger in striking distance
Tiger Woods moved closer to the lead, but was clearly frustrated after Friday’s second round of the 77th Masters. For the second straight day, he made the turn in under par but scuffled on the back nine.
A bad break at the par-5 15th hole and a three-putt at the par-4 18th led to bogeys and a score of 1-under-par 71. Tiger, who started the day four shots off the pace, now has a 36-hole total of 3-under 141 and is tied for seventh, three strokes behind leader Jason Day of Australia.
“My score doesn’t quite indicate how well l played today,” Woods said.
Despite the swirling winds, Tiger toured the front nine in 3-under 33 and climbed into a tie for the lead at 5-under for the first time since 2011. He made clutch par saves at 10, 12 and 14, and was trying to become the only player to post a bogey-free round when misfortune struck at 15.
Woods pushed his drive into the pine straw on the right, then hit a nice lay-up short of a fronting pond. He punched a beautiful sand wedge that covered the flag, but the ball struck the bottom of the pin and caromed backwards into the water. Tiger did well to salvage bogey, knocking his fifth shot from the same spot three feet left of the cup and made the putt.
At the 465-yard, 18th, Woods hit a good drive and had 176 yards to the green. Torn between hitting an 8 or 7-iron, he chose the latter and the ball carried to the back of the green, leaving a treacherous downhill putt with a big left-to-right break. Tiger ran his birdie attempt 10 feet past the hole and missed his par attempt — his first-ever three-putt on the green.
“I flagged it at 18, and hit the first putt too hard,” said Woods.
Tiger’s 2-over 38 on the back nine marked the eighth-consecutive time he has failed to break par on the side.
That said, he has two rounds to chase down his fifth green jacket. Conditions were tough Friday, as the course played approximately 1 1/2 strokes higher than the first round. Overnight and morning rain softened the course. That, coupled with tricky wind and tough pin placements kept players on the defensive from start to finish.
A late starter with Luke Donald and Scott Piercy, Woods got off to another slow but solid start. He parred the first four holes, making a wonderful save at the downhill 232-yard, par-3 fourth, where he his tee shot came up short of the green. With little green to work with, Tiger wisely used the slope behind the pin and his chip trickled back six feet behind the cup. He poured in the knee-knocker to maintain his positive momentum.
At the challenging 455-yard, par-4 fifth, which features one of the most undulating greens on the course, Woods found the fairway, then hit his approach shot from 187 yards pin-high, about 25 feet right of the flag. Tiger drained the putt for a sweet birdie. His last birdie on No. 5 came in 2005, and coincidentally, it’s the last time he won the tournament.
Woods followed with a nice two-putt par at the 199-yard, par-3 sixth, then added his second birdie at the 450-yard, par-4 seventh. Following a nice drive, the wind began to swirl, complicating club selection on his uphill second shot. Tiger played to the front of the green, about 35 feet below the back-right pin, and rolled in the uphill, right-to-left putt, calmly tipping his hat to the appreciative patrons.
Woods blasted a big drive up the left side of the fairway at the uphill 570-yard, par-5 eighth. Faced with a blind second shot from 276 yards, he pounded a fairway wood at the left side of the green and received a nice bounce, leaving a 25-foot eagle putt. Tiger easily two-putted for his third birdie and in four holes.
At the 460-yard, par-4 ninth, Woods’ drive caught a tree on the left, but the ball bounced into the fairway, 190 yards from the green. Playing from a downhill lie to the uphill green, he nearly lost his balance but hit a fine shot, the ball stopping about 40 feet under the hole. Tiger almost made that putt, too, but settled for a par.
Woods made a nice two-putt par from the back fringe at the par-4 10th, converting a ticklish three-footer. After a two-putt par at No. 11, he sailed an 8-iron at the 159-yard, par-3 12th into the back bunker. Tiger’s sand shot to the back pin stopped seven feet short of the hole, leaving another testy, downhill putt, but he made it to save par.
At the vulnerable par-5 13th, Woods hit a 3-wood into the right rough and elected to lay up short of Rae’s Creek. He punched a nice sand wedge 10 feet below the cup but couldn’t capitalize.
The underrated 440-yard, par-4 14th almost got him for the second-straight day — he three-putted the hole Thursday for his only bogey — but Tiger made a scrambling par. After missing his first fairway of the day, his approach shot from the right rough rolled over the back of the green, where he hit a nice chip to seven feet and stroked in the putt.
Then came the misfortune at 15, followed by a nice up-and-down par from the left bunker at the water-guarded 183-yard, par-3 16th.
At the 440-yard, par-4 17th, Woods drove into the left rough and had tall pine trees blocking his path to the green. No problem. He muscled a wedge from 136 yards over the top of the trees — almost coming out of his shoes — and found the putting surface, 30 feet right of the hole. Tiger two-putted for a par.
Woods failed to make a birdie on the back nine and has only made one in two rounds. He’ll be looking to improve that statistic on the weekend, and also hopes to take better advantage of the par-5s. After playing them 2-under on Thursday, he was even-par Friday.
For the second day in a row, Tiger hit 9 of 14 fairways — only two on the back nine — and 13 of 18 greens. After using 30 putts on Thursday, he had 27 on Friday.
Woods tees off Saturday at 1:45 p.m. ET with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain.
