AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods walked off the third green at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday, having just missed a birdie putt he thought he should have made, and began striding up the hill toward the long par-3 fourth hole at the Masters.
Little did he know things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Whatever hope Woods had of staying in contention disappeared, along with his confident swing and mastery of the greens. The five-time champion spent the rest of the day struggling to his worst round at a major championship tournament, a 10-over-par 82 that left Woods looking not only defeated but will force him to play his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday well out of the spotlight.
“I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today,” said Woods, whose worst round at the Masters had been back-to-back 78s in 2022, the last time his battered and broken body was able to play the full weekend.
Woods said he “just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.”