Tiger Woods rallies with four birdies and will make cut at Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. — On a cool and sometimes blustery Friday at Augusta National, Tiger Woods was as unpredictable as the winds.
The five-time Masters champion, making his astounding return after a catastrophic car accident 14 months ago, was better off the tee but not as accurate with his putter as the day before.
Woods had bogeys on four of his first five holes, then chipped away at his rapidly climbing score with four birdies in a seven-hole stretch. He closed his round with four pars.
He’s at plus-one heading into the weekend, having salvaged his round after a shaky start. Although the round was not complete when Woods finished, it appears he will make the cut.
Tiger Woods uses steadier play during final five holes to make the cut
When Tiger Woods announced he would play the Masters, there was skepticism he could make the cut after two grueling rounds 14 months after a catastrophic rollover car accident that threatened his ability to walk.
Woods had to work through some tough moments and flirted with falling below the cut line, but steadier play during the final five holes helped avoid a letdown.
At No. 18, Woods showed improvement from Thursday. While not spectacular, he took four strokes to close out the hole and notch another par.
He walked off the course tied for 19th at one-over for the tournament.
Tiger Woods holds steady at No. 17, closing strong to stay above the projected cut
At No. 17, Tiger Woods continues his strong form off the tee. He followed it with a second shot that put him on the edge of the green. He falls short of a birdie, but he finishes the short-range putt for par.
He sits at one-over entering No. 18 and is on track to make the cut after a few early wobbles.
Can Tiger Woods putt for dough? A look at what’s working and what’s not this round
Tiger has hit nine of 13 fairways so far, which is better than Thursday when he struggled with accuracy off the tee. But in the first round he repeatedly was able to scramble and make par with clutch putts. That isn’t happening today.
He’s had six bogeys so far today, three times as many as he had in his entire round yesterday. Drive for show …
At No. 16, Tiger Woods continues to mix strong tee shots with missed putts
Another hole, another narrowly missed putt.
Tiger hit a nice tee shot on the par-three 16th and landed in that potential hole-in-one slot that Stewart Cink found so beautifully earlier in the day (his second career ace on that hole).
But Tiger’s ball wasn’t quite as accurate and trickled 11 feet below the hole. His putt back up the hill burned the left edge and he tapped in for par.
Tiger Woods holds on for par at No. 15 and continues to draw cheers from the crowd
After consecutive birdies on 13 and 14 – a 14th hole he bogeyed on Thursday – Woods crushed his drive down the middle of 15, then smoked a five-wood from 253 yards, clearing the water in front of the green and rolling off the back.
He walked a little gingerly toward the hole, drawing enthusiastic applause.
His gentle pitch back toward the water trickled well past the hole, leaving him with a long uphill putt. He narrowly missed comebacker and tapped in for par.
Woods is tied for 20th and one-over, giving him some breathing room.
Augusta roars to life as Tiger Woods delivers back-to-back birdies
After flirting with the expected cutline, Tiger Woods has fans rocking at Augusta with back-to-back birdies at No. 13 and No. 14.
After rough stretch, Tiger Woods sinks birdie at No. 13
At 13, after back-to-back bogeys, Woods hits a beautiful pitch that runs a couple feet past the hole. That leaves him with a fairly easy birdie putt, which he sinks.
It’s his third birdie in six holes. That’s the good news.
The bad news is he picked up he picked up his fifth and sixth bogey of the day during that stretch. He has struggled with control off the tee in this second round, and he hasn’t bailed himself out with the putter the way he did Thursday.
Tiger Woods cut watch
After going four-over on No. 12, Tiger Woods is hovering around the low end of the middle of the pack.
He is holding steady at three-over par for the tournament. The projected cut line at the moment is four-over, leaving Woods limited wiggle room the rest of the way.
A fortunate roll and a sweet approach result in a birdie and a smile on No. 10
Finally, some good fortune. Tiger hits a 3-wood off the No. 10 tee, catches the downslope and the ball rolls out 296 yards, leaving him with 208 to the pin.
On his second, he hit a brilliant 5 iron that curled in two feet right of the hole. Incredible shot and the gallery erupts.
He makes the putt for his second birdie of the round, smiling as he walks off the green.
A scare then a par on No. 9 sends Tiger Woods to the back nine three over on the day
Tiger Woods’ second shot on the par-4 ninth hole was alarming. He pushed a short iron to the right — as he’d been doing all day — and immediately dropped his club over his back as if he had lost his balance.
He walked without a limp to the green, however, and his third shot from off the green gave him a 12-foot putt for a par. Whether these blustery nine holes coming on the heels of his first competitive round in 14 months had taken a toll, only he knew.
Making the putt to salvage par certainly would ease any pain he felt, and sure enough he sank it to finish the first nine three over par. He is tied for 28th place at two over par in the tournament.
Birdie! Tiger’s bold approach gives him a tap-in on No. 8
The five-par No. 8 hole provided a solid chance for Tiger’s first birdie of the round, but he left his second shot to the right of the green, above the hole with a steep roll to the pin ahead.
Tiger executed his boldest shot of the round, however, using a wedge to leave the ball a foot from the hole. He tapped in and there it was, a birdie, finally. It was only the third birdie of the day from the entire field on No. 8.
Tiger is now plus-4 for the round and plus-2 in the tournament.
Tiger is tied for 40th overall after seven holes after a second consecutive par
Tiger parred the 450-yard No. 7 and seems to be getting bearings after his four bogeys on the first five holes.
He is tied for 40th on a crowded leaderboard that has no one running away with the tournament.
Tiger breaks string of three consecutive bogeys with a par on No. 6
Tiger hit to the middle of the green on the par-three sixth hole and was short on his 36-foot birdie try. A lot of his putts are coming up short, although he did break a string of three consecutive bogeys.
The wind is making this course much tougher and more unpredictable. And it’s not making this round any easier for Tiger.
An ill wind is blowing Tiger further and further from the leaders
ESPN Stats & Info has a great statistic on Woods: “Entering Friday, Tiger Woods is a combined -29 in 2nd-round play in his Masters career, best in tournament history. Next-best are Jordan Spieth and Fred Couples, at -17 apiece. In each of Tiger’s five Masters wins, he shot 69 or better in Round 2.”
Well, he’s got some work to do, and that’s no simple task with the pine-swaying breezes at Augusta this afternoon. He’s bogeyed four times in the first five holes, and several of his shots have slid down that glass wall of wind.
Tiger had another errant tee shot on No. 5, punched his second shot onto the fairway then hit perhaps his best shot of the day to get inside 10 feet with a chance to salvage par. But again he missed the putt for his fourth bogey of the round and third in a row.
The ‘Flowering Crab Apple’ fourth hole leaves a sour taste in Tiger Woods’ mouth
The 240-yard par-3 fourth hole is known as the “Flowering Crab Apple” and it left a sour taste in Tiger Woods’ mouth.
He pushed his tee shot right of the green and bounced his second shot around a bunker and onto the green, but the ball rolled downhill away from the hole and he was left 40 feet away from a par.
His putt was on course but came up a couple inches short. He dropped his head, braced himself with his hands on his knees and took a deep breath at the realization that he’d bogeyed three of the first four holes.
Tiger Woods mishits a short approach and misses a putt to bogey No. 3
“Wow, look at that thing,” Tiger Woods said when his second shot from 127 yards blew right off the green in the swirling winds of Augusta, Ga.
He laughed and shook his head.
The third hole is a 350-yard par four, short enough to hit a long iron off the tee and position a golfer to place a short iron close enough to the hole for a birdie putt.
Instead, Woods was left with a chip-and-roll third shot, and he used a four-iron to get the ball within 7 feet of the cup. He missed the par putt, however, pulling the ball left just as he did on the first hole, and, just as he did on the first hole the result was a bogey.
Heading to the fourth hole, he is two over par for day, and one over for the tournament.
His iron off the tee was perfect.
Tiger works himself out of another fairway bunker on No. 2
Another fairway bunker awaited Tiger’s tee shot on the second hole, a 575-yard par five nicknamed “Pink Dogwood.”
His second shot positioned him for a quality short iron that spun to a stop about 20 feet in front of the hole. He challenged the hole with a firm putt that slipped by the left edge, giving him a tap-in for par.
Tiger opens the second round with a bogey after driving into a bunker
A day after Tiger Woods astounded everyone with his steady play in shooting a 71 only 14 months removed from a catastrophic car accident, he began the second round at the Masters by dumping his tee shot into a deep bunker.
Tiger’s second shot landed to the right of the green, so his pattern of not reaching the green in regulation carried over to Friday. The difference, however, was that his chip left him with a two-putt for a bogey.
Tiger was never over par Thursday. Now he’s one-over walking to the second tee.
Watch: Tiger Woods first-round shots . . . all 71 of them
Round 2 Masters best bets: Our top futures wagers
Round 1 of the 86th Masters is complete, and the scoring conditions on Thursday may be the best these players see all week. Rain on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon — and again on Thursday morning — softened up the golf course, and there were some birdies to be had. The wind kicked up a bit in the afternoon and made distance judgment difficult. In the end, 73.8 was the average score of the day with the newly lengthened 18th hole playing as the most challenging hole on the course.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im is your first-round leader, shooting a 5-under par 67. Australia’s Cameron Smith began his day with a double bogey on the first hole. He had it to 6-under par before making a bookend double-bogey on the final hole and finishing at 4-under.
The much-anticipated start by Tiger Woods provided some fireworks as the Big Cat shot an opening-round 71, the 11th time he’s been under par after Round 1 in his Masters career. While it was certainly exciting to see Woods pull off such a round amid his recovery from injury, let’s not get too excited just yet.
Tiger will tee off at 10:34 p.m. (Pacific) on Friday, and by noon, the wind is expected to blow over 20 mph. Tiger had the putter working today but hit a few errant tee shots and only hit 9-of-18 greens in regulation. Tiger traded as high as 150-1 to win the 86th Masters pre-tournament and was bet down to less than 20-1 before he teed off on Thursday. His current in-game price to win it is between 40 and 50-1. It will be a blood bath for sportsbooks around the country if Woods goes on to capture a sixth green jacket.
Photos: Tiger Woods draws a crowd at Augusta National in the first round
Tiger Woods’ comeback took a somewhat unexpected turn when he showed up at Augusta National Golf Club last weekend on a mission to determine if he was capable of playing in the Masters.
On Thursday, Woods showed the world that his decision to play wasn’t rooted in simply being part of a spectacle he has won five times. Playing conservatively, Woods finished the first round with a one-under-par 71, finishing four shots off the lead.
Here are some of the best photos of his opening round at the Masters on Thursday:
Recap: Tiger Woods opens Masters with encouraging first round
AUGUSTA, Ga. — With thousands of spectators watching his every move Thursday morning, Tiger Woods emerged from the Augusta National clubhouse, closed his eyes, took a deep breath as if to brace himself, opened his eyes and stepped into the next chapter of his legendary career.
The five-time Masters winner began his pursuit of his sixth green jacket under circumstances almost beyond belief.
He’s 14 months removed from a catastrophic rollover car accident that threatened his ability to walk, and yet somehow he remained a factor on the first day of the storied tournament.
Playing conservatively and frequently saving par with his putter — including a 10-footer on 18 — Woods shot a one-under-par 71 with 13 pars, two bogeys and three birdies. Woods trails first-round leader Sungjae Im by four strokes. Cam Smith is second at four-under par.
“To play this golf course and to do what I did today, to make — to hit the shots in the right spots — I know where to hit it to a lot of these pins, and I miss in the correct spots and give myself good angles,” he said. “I did that all day, and I was able to make a few putts and end up in the red like I am now.”
Friday’s second round tee times for the 2022 Masters
Here are Friday’s tee times for the second round of the 2022 Masters tournament (all times Pacific):
How to watch and stream the 2022 Masters tournament
ESPN will air a portion of the second round Friday — and won’t go on the air until Tiger Woods’ rounds are completed — then CBS takes over on the weekend with equally limited coverage. There are, however, online streaming options.
TV COVERAGE
Friday, April 8: Noon-4:30 p.m. PDT (ESPN)
Saturday, April 9: Noon-4 p.m. PDT (CBS)
Sunday, April 10: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. PDT (CBS)
STREAMING
Free on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App
Shane Bacon, Colt Knost and Billy Kratzert begin coverage of the Thursday morning rounds with “Featured Groups.” Brian Crowell and Michael Breed will be the announcers for live streaming coverage of select golfers throughout their entire round each day.
Grant Boone and Mark Immelman will be the announcers for live streaming coverage of the 11th, 12th and 13th holes from the Amen Corner and Luke Elvy and Ned Michaels will provide analysis from the 15th and 16th holes.
CBS Sports HQ, the free 24/7 streaming sports news network, will feature live updates and reports on the leaderboard.