AUGUSTA, Ga. — Frustration was Tiger Woods’ constant companion Thursday at the 2023 Masters. There was pain in his rebuilt right leg, the kind of pain that never goes away, Tiger said. There were approach shots that fell short and putts that lipped out. There were too many bogeys at the beginning and after a burst of momentum, one last bogey at the end.
All in all, it was not the Tiger we remember but the Tiger we’ve come to know.
Woods finished with an unsatisfying first round 2-over 74, well behind the leaders, and the nagging knowledge that he couldn’t take advantage of Augusta National when the conditions were most welcoming.
“I just didn’t do the job I needed to do to get the ball close,” Woods, a five-time Masters champion, said afterward. “Today was the opportune time to get the round under par, and I didn’t do that. Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it.”
Tiger did have a front-row seat for 25-year-old co-leader Viktor Hovland’s scintillating seven-under 65, and Xander Schauffele’s four-under performance that also found him on the leaderboard. It was both ironic and a sign of the times that Tiger’s threesome included the first-round co-leader and another player near the lead, and neither was Tiger.
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But it all made sense. After taking nearly two months off from competitive golf, Woods was rusty. There were bogeys on No. 3, No. 5 and No. 7. All that early misery occurred in the first two hours on a course that he absolutely loves, and still on occasion loves him back. Perspiration beaded on his face and soaked through his white shirt on a warm, humid day. This was a grind, and he knew it.
“I didn’t have very good speed early,” he said. “I had two three-putts and consequently I’m a couple over par. I didn’t hit my irons close enough today. I didn’t give myself very good looks. I need to do a better job of that going forward to hopefully get myself back in this tournament.”
No matter what happens or how far behind he is, some things never change: Tiger still thinks he can be in the mix on the weekend, which is supposed to be rainy, cold and miserable, not exactly prime conditions for a 47-year-old with a bum leg.
Two in a row for Tiger Woods. #themasters pic.twitter.com/RYFcHxiSrO
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April…
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