Tiger Woods’ appearance at Augusta National was met with thousands of fans cramming together to watch the most dominant golfer of all time return to the Masters.
Following a car accident that nearly cost Woods his career and his leg, fans and commentators wondered if he would make the trip to golf’s most storied tournament. Well, Woods did more than just take part in the Masters. Tiger made the cut, finishing his 36th hole at three over par and delivering what fans most wanted to see, Tiger Woods playing on the weekend at the Masters.
Tiger Woods moves inside the projected cut line. #themasters pic.twitter.com/FH6tZxwQl8
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2023
Although not complete, Tiger’s performance at this year’s tournament has already earned him another place in the history books. This marks his 23rd consecutive cut-made at the Masters, tying Fred Couples and Gary Player for the most of all time. After Woods’ second round was delayed due to fallen pine trees that nearly hit several patrons, Tiger came back and secured his record with a steady performance early on Saturday morning.
Woods’ chance to make the cut was almost squandered, as his final holes of the second round were played in cold and windy rain. He bogeyed his last to put himself just one shot outside the cut. After he signed his scorecard, Woods offered this insight into his feeling in an interview shared by the Wisconsin State Journal:
“I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event. I hope I get a chance to play this weekend — I’m sorry, I got a chance to play on the weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds.”
Tiger got his wish, almost like the golf gods were looking out for him. Justin Thomas finished his round with bogeys on 17 and 18, moving the cut line to +3 and earning Woods a start in rounds three and four.
Fred Couples, who saw Tiger match his record, also made the cut and has no plans of slowing down as play resumes on Sunday. Couples reflected on his game over the last few years and his plans going into the final two rounds of the tournament:
“The last four years have been really mediocre golf. Maybe one year I was semi-close to making the cut, but that was my objective, and I did it. It’s not like, ‘Ha, ha, ha. Now I can screw around and play 36 holes for fun.’ I’m going to try and compete. Play a good pairing with some younger guys and watch them play.”
Now, the storyline shifts to the health of Tiger Woods, who was seen limping and grimacing in pain as he completed a portion of his second round on Saturday before play was suspended due to water pooling on the putting surface. One has to imagine that Tiger and his team had a lengthy discussion following the first part of the third round about whether he should continue when play resumes on Sunday.
Tiger Woods looked to be in quite a bit of pain today at The Masters pic.twitter.com/aFXTfBpjOb
— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) April 9, 2023
Regardless of whether the greatest of all time returns to Augusta National for the final day of the Masters, it’s a welcome sight to see Tiger continue to etch his name into the record books, even in his current state.
The Featured Image is a screenshot from an embedded Tweet.
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