AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods split the fairway with his opening shot Thursday, confidently plucking his tee from the ground before his ball had even landed, and set off with grim-faced determination for a steamy trek around Augusta National.
The rest of his day at the Masters was mostly just grim.
There were two wicked lip-outs on the front side. A pitch shot dumped in a greenside bunker on the back. Some bad luck off the tee at 18, which left him with a painfully awkward stance. And on just about every hole, a pronounced limp — the evidence of the crash on a suburban Los Angeles road just over two years ago that crushed bones in his right leg and ankle.
By the time Woods struggled through the finishing hole, failing to get up and down from another bunker, he had shot 74 — good enough to stay in contention to play the weekend but hardly good enough to actually contend. He has never missed the cut at the Masters as a professional.
“Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it,” Woods said. “Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it.”