AUGUSTA - On the first round of his 25th Masters, Tiger Woods walked slowly and sometimes with a limp. As he made his way around Augusta National, he sometimes was hunched over in pain.
On a warm and clear Thursday that had him constantly toweling sweat off his face and arms, Woods traversed the undulating terrain of the grounds at 2604 Washington Road with difficulty. Bearing the wear caused by five back surgeries and a car accident that fractured his right leg in multiple places, the 47-year-old Woods acknowledged earlier in the week that he wasn’t sure how many more times his body would permit him to compete at the tournament that has defined his greatness.
A comment made after his round, which he completed in 2-over-par 74, did nothing to encourage the idea that there are many more tournaments left in the tank. Asked whether he felt pain on particular shots or if it were constant, Woods replied, “It’s constant.”
But the hobbled legend still coaxed some of the magic that the throngs had come to witness, keeping himself in contention to make the cut for a 23rd consecutive time. (Former Masters champions Fred Couples and Gary Player share the record with 23 cuts made in a row.)
At the conclusion of the first round, Woods was in a nine-way tie for 54th. The second-round cut line will permit the top 50 players (plus ties) to keep playing.
Woods teed off in the 10:18 a.m. group, with fans lined up four and five deep at the first tee box, standing on tiptoes and craning their necks for a glimpse of the legend. With favorable playing conditions for the first round – his playing partners Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele shot 7-under 65 and 4-under 68, respectively – Woods acknowledged a missed opportunity.
“Most of the guys are going low (Thursday),” Woods said. “This was the day to do it. Hopefully (Friday), I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it.”
In healthier days, the concept of Woods nudging his way to a successful round at Augusta National was entirely foreign. One doesn’t win five green jackets by steadily chugging along.
But it’s where he lives now, as his body is not cooperating and limiting his ability to practice and compete. Thursday’s round was his first competitive action since mid-February. Watching him negotiate the rolling hills of Augusta National – the tee-to-green yardage alone measures more than four miles, and the climbs and descents are significant – gave clear indication of why he has been so limited.
He labored up the hills and walked with a slight limp as he descended them. When he crouched down behind his ball to get a better look at his putting line, he took his stance gingerly. As Schauffele prepared to putt on the fifth green, Woods stretched his right leg, trying to stay loose.
Woods took his second shot on the 18th hole, on the left edge of the fairway, with his right foot in a sand trip and came up hopping in pain on his left leg after his swing while holding up his right (the one damaged in the car wreck).
“Hop on the left leg is fine,” he said. “If I did it on the other one, not so fine.”
His play reflected his limited training and perhaps a dulled touch around the greens. He had two three-putts. An approach shot from about 50 yards on the par-4 third was short of the green and rolled back into a greenside swale, leading to his first bogey of the day.
On the par-4 11th, after his 5-iron from the fairway kicked right of the green – a shot that left him hunched over in apparent pain – his attempt to lob his third shot onto the green caught a sand trap, leading to the fourth of his five bogeys for the day.
“I didn’t hit my irons close enough (Thursday),” he said. “I didn’t give myself very good looks.”
But Woods rewarded the gallery late, scoring birdies on the par-5 15th and par-3 16th to return to 1-over par before bogeying the par-4 18th. At 15, he rolled in a putt of perhaps 30 feet, the product of steady hands and the local knowledge gained over dozens of rounds on the course.
Given his labors Thursday, Friday’s question will be whether he can summon the energy and determination to make the cut, to say nothing of what he would have left if he did make it. In the past five years, the average cut line was 3-over par. His tee time is scheduled for 12:54 p.m., moved up a half-hour from the original time due to expected rainfall Friday.
Rains are expected Friday, conditions that could challenge Woods both from a standpoint of scoring and also his ability to physically get around the course.
“This is going to be an interesting finish to the tournament with the weather coming in,” he said.
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