Tiger Woods hole-by-hole recap at the Masters

Birdies were available to be made at Augusta National as Tiger Woods and playing partner K.J. Choi made their way to the first tee for their 2:35 p.m. tee time. They were in today’s next-to-last pairing, ahead only of co-leaders Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

Early in the day, Heath Slocum played his front nine in 5-under-par 31, while Steve Marino was finishing up a front-side 32. In all, 26 of the 44 golfers who teed off in front of Woods and Choi were at even-par or better for the day.

As has been the case all week, a solid cluster of patrons took up all the available space between the first tee and Augusta National’s clubhouse and putting green. Fans also lined the ropes all the way down the hill that makes up the first portion of the No. 1 fairway.

Hole No. 18 (Holly)

465 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. With a splendid approach up the hill, Woods placed himself within 6 feet to end with a birdie. His putt flirted with the idea of skirting by on the right, but fell in the side door as as the golfer waved his hand in mock dismissal. A 3-under-par 69 finished off a week in which he broke par all four days.

Tournament: 11-under.

Standing: Tied for fourth, four shots behind Phil Mickelson (15-under through 16).

Today’s stats: 9 of 14 fairways / 10 of 18 greens / 26 total putts.

Hole No. 17 (Nandina)

440 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. Needing a birdie to have any chance at hanging around in case Phil Mickelson fades, Woods gave himself an outside chance but couldn’t convert.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 10-under.

Standing: Alone in fifth, five shots behind Phil Mickelson (15-under through 15).

Hole No. 16 (Redbud)

170 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods parred. Pulled his 7-iron tee shot long and left, again giving a look of anguish as the ball rolled out to the green’s fringe. Didn’t have much chance on a birdie with a 7-foot break, but cozied it close and tapped in for his par.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 10-under.

Standing: Alone in fifth, four shots behind Phil Mickelson (14-under through 14).

Today’s stats: 8 of 12 fairways / 8 of 16 greens / 23 total putts.

Hole No. 15 (Firethorn)

530 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods eagled. Wound up getting to double digits anyway, courtesy of his fourth eagle of the week. Whatever frustration from the three-putt went into a drive powered well down the fairway, and he found the right distance control on the approach shot to give himself a chance to make one more bold move.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 10-under.

Standing: Alone in fifth, four shots behind Phil Mickelson (14-under through 14).

Hole No. 14 (Chinese Fir)

440 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. When he looks back at this final round, today’s three-putt from 4 feet will be the one that makes him reach for the antacid. A splendid approach touched down left of the hole and curled around to leave Woods one putt from getting to 10-under for the first time this week. But his birdie attempt never broke as it slid past on the right, and his par save lipped out.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for sixth, six shots behind Phil Mickelson (14-under through 13).

Hole No. 13 (Azalea)

510 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods birdied. Another uncharacteristic swing when he popped up a 3-wood tee shot that didn’t travel much more than 200 yards. At least he kept the verbiage clean – “God, Ti-ger! [Got the club] so far stuck behind me.” But after a layup, he still came within a half-inch of another eagle when his wedge spun back over the hole’s edge. Left with a 10-foot birdie try, Woods coaxed home the tickler.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 9-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, four shots behind Phil Mickelson (13-under through 12).

Hole No. 12 (Golden Bell)

155 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods parred. Sent his tee shot in the back bunker – his third straight miss off the 12th tee after hitting within 18 inches on Thursday. Watched his bunker blast go long, all the way to the front fringe, but walked away with par after draining a clutch 12-footer.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, four shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (12-under through 11) and K.J. Choi (12-under through 12).

Hole No. 11 (White Dogwood)

505 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Lost his drive off to the right in one of the worst places for that to happen, with the narrow chute players must hit tee shots through. From the pine straw, tried to hook a low shot around the back end of the trees but hit one pine trunk square-on, creating another shot from the needles. Woods’ next approach was brilliant, going over the pines to drop a par attempt 6 feet from the pin, but he missed the putt.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, four shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (12-under through 10) and K.J. Choi (12-under through 11).

Hole No. 10 (Camellia)

495 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. His approach shot was a little too far right of its target, landing on the edge of the green and curling toward the middle. Left with a long birdie attempt, Woods took his two-putt and moved ahead to Amen Corner.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 9-under.

Standing: Fifth, three shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (12-under through 9) and K.J. Choi (12-under through 10).

Hole No. 9 (Carolina Cherry)

460 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. Starting to find his rhythm again, Woods striped his second shot to the middle of the green and watched it spin back some 8 feet past the flagstick. Given a fairly straight putt for birdie, the cheers went up with a little gusto as the ball fell into the hole.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 9-under.

Standing: Fifth, three shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood (12-under through 8).

Hole No. 8 (Yellow Jasmine)

570 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods birdied. Despite missing the fairway to the left, Woods was able to rip his second shot from the short rough to just off the green’s left fringe. Though he wasn’t happy with a too-strong lag putt that ran 7 feet past the hole, he poured in the birdie attempt.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Now solo fifth, four shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under through 7).

Hole No. 7 (Pampas)

450 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods eagled. Some of the old Tiger magic finally returned, watching his mid-iron approach land well left of the pin but using the green’s slope to let the ball trickle toward the flagstick. When it disappeared into the cup, Woods dropped the club and broke loose a smile as he raised both hands into the air.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, five shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under through 6).

Hole No. 6 (Juniper)

180 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods parred. Another lackluster strike off the tee, not getting around enough on an 8-iron that went toward the green’s middle instead of toward the far-left pin position. A birdie attempt from about 22 feet did scare the hole, but wound up a fraction of an inch off the edge.

Today: 3-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Tied for eighth, seven shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under through 5).

Hole No. 5 (Magnolia)

455 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Rather than take a fairway bunker out of play by hitting 3-wood, Woods wound up driving it into the hazard and was forced to pitch out into the fairway. His third-shot approach came to a stop 8 feet from the flagstick, but again his par save wasn’t close enough to get excited about.

Today: 3-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Tied for eighth, six shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood (both 12-under through 4).

Hole No. 4 (Flowering Crab Apple)

240 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Missed the green for the fourth consecutive day at the long par-3, this time hanging his tee shot out just too far to the right. Again lacked crispness with his chip shot, unable to get it to check up as it ran 6 feet past the hole. Didn’t read enough break into his par save, watching it slide past on the right.

Today: 2-over par. Tournament: 6-under.

Standing: Tied for seventh, six shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under through 3).

Hole No. 3 (Flowering Peach)

350 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. A fortunate result considering the problems he showed with his wedge game. His approach shot on Augusta’s shortest par-4 took one high bounce and traveled through the green, and his chip from behind ran 6 feet past the hole. He was able to connect on this par save, though, keeping him from falling too far back.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, five shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under through 2).

Hole No. 2 (Pink Dogwood)

575 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods parred. Uncharacteristically skied his drive off the tee, leaving himself so short that he pulled his 3-wood to try to reach the green in two. By comparison, other big hitters were using long irons for their approach. Woods’ second shot found a greenside bunker, where another rare mistake transpired – a bunker blast that traveled maybe 8 feet and didn’t escape the sand. Though he blasted out to tap-in distance, it was a very sour-tasting par.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, four shots behind co-leaders Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson (both 11-under through 1).

Hole No. 1 (Tea Olive)

445 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. A pull-hook opening drive went so far left that it wound up in the adjacent ninth fairway – reminiscent of his tee shot at No. 17 yesterday that went right of right. Woods then had to play a high slice back to No. 1, which did well to stop in front of the green. But a poor chip shot ran 10 feet past the hole, and he missed the par save.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, five shots behind Lee Westwood (12-under standing on the first tee).