Woods faces uphill climb at Masters following 75
A promising start turned into a long, frustrating afternoon for Tiger Woods on Friday in the 76th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.
Playing in cool but dry conditions, Tiger birdied two of his first three holes and seemed destined to climb up the leaderboard. But he played the last 15 holes in 5-over par to finish with a 75, one stroke less than his highest score on the course.
“I just tried to give everything I had on every shot,” said the four-time champion. “I didn’t quite have it today with my swing.”
Woods hit only seven of 18 greens and eight of 14 fairways in regulation, and struggled with his short putting, though he used 27 overall. His downfall came on the par 3s, which he played in 3-over, and the par-5s, which he played in even par. It marked only the third time in 18 appearances at Augusta National that Tiger failed to birdie any of the par 5s.
“If I clean those up, I’m under par,” Woods said.
Tiger has a 36-hole score of 3-over 147, eight strokes behind co-leaders Jason Dufner and 52-year-old Fred Couples. The cut came at 5-over 149, with 63 players qualifying for the weekend, the most since 1992.
A late starter with Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea, Woods got the start he wanted with an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 first hole.
For the second consecutive day, Tiger was unable to birdie the par-5 second hole, but he birdied the short, par-4 third. After a perfect drive short-left of the green, he skipped a perfectly-judged sand wedge five feet past the hole and converted.
Woods lost momentum with a bogey at the long, par-3 fourth, leaving a six-foot putt a foot short of the cup.
“I hit a bad putt,” he said.
Tiger followed with a nice two-putt from long range at the par-4 fifth. But at the 199-yard, par-3 sixth, his tee shot flew the green and bounced into the gallery, leaving a nasty downhill chip to the back-left pin placement. He did well to leave his chip shot about nine feet short of the hole but failed to save par.
At the uphill, par-4 seventh, Woods pushed his drive into the right rough and hit his second shot just short of the green. He hit a nice chip within three feet of the hole and made the par putt.
Looking for a birdie at the uphill, 570-yard, par-5 eighth, Tiger pulled his tee shot into the trees on the left and was fortunate to have a small opening. He threaded the needle with a great second shot, leaving a short iron to the green, then punched his third shot to six feet from the cup. However, he was unable to sink the birdie putt. Woods hit a good drive at the 460-yard, par-4 ninth, but his approach finished 45 feet short-right of the back-left pin. Tiger left his birdie putt five feet short and lipped out his par attempt for a three-putt bogey. He made the turn in 1-over 37, using 17 putts.
“Bad misses,” he said of the short putts on the eighth and ninth.
Tiger narrowly missed a long birdie putt at the par-4 10th, then pounded a good drive at the demanding, 505-yard, par-4 11th, the start of Amen Corner. But he blocked his second shot well right of the green, nearly holed a tough pitch shot over the right bunker, then burned the left edge of the cup with a 15-foot par putt.
At the short-but-dangerous, 146-yard, par-3 12th, Tiger missed the green long-left with his tee shot, but hit a beautiful chip that flirted with the hole but refused to fall.
Woods drove with a 3-wood at the par-3 13th and wound up in the left rough. With about 200 yards left to the green and needing to hit a big hook to clear Rae’s Creek, Tiger played aggressively but just cleared the water, the ball plugging into the bank in the hazard. He elected to take a drop, sustaining a one-stroke penalty, then hit a nice sand wedge six feet past the hole and made the par-saving putt.
Hoping to parlay the nice save into something positive, Woods hit a wonderful second shot at the 440-yard, par-4 14th, the ball trickling down a left-to-right slope to within six feet of the cup. Again, he couldn’t capitalize and settled for a par.
His frustration continued at the 530-yard, par-5 15th, where he flushed a drive down the center of the fairway and had 200 yards — over water — to the green. Tiger pushed a 4-iron right of the right greenside bunker, then tried to hit a precise flop to the pin but came up short in the sand. Woods hit a nice explosion shot to within two feet of the hole and salvaged par.
At the par-3 16th, Woods blocked a 9-iron into the right bunker. Typical of how his day went, the ball buried and he was lucky his explosion shot didn’t run into the water hazard on the left. From there, Tiger hit another good chip that just missed going into the hole for a par.
Woods two-putted the par-4 17th hole for par from the right fringe. He hit a good drive at the uphill, 465-yard, par-4 18th, but his 7-iron approach shot came up short of the green in the front bunker. Again, Tiger almost holed out; his sand shot finished six inches from the hole for a tap-in par.
Woods knows anything can happen at Augusta National on the weekend and is determined to play himself back into contention. He has tied for fourth each of the last two years, coming from seven strokes behind on Sunday last year to lead briefly.
“Anybody can still win this golf tournament,” said a disappointed but hardly demoralized Woods. “I just need to play a good, solid round and cut that deficit down.”
Tiger will tee off Saturday at 10:45 a.m. ET with Charl Schwartzel.
