Woods makes history with record 24th cut
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods claimed more history Friday at August National, making the cut for a record 24th consecutive time.
Of course, his sights were fixated on a far greater goal — a record-tying sixth green jacket.
Woods broke the cut record he shared with three-time champion
Gary Player, who advanced to the weekend 23 straight times beginning in 1959, and 1992 winner Fred Couples, whose own streak lasted until 2007.
“It means I have a chance going into the weekend,” said Woods, whose even-par 72 left him 1 over through 36 holes. “I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament. I don’t know if they’re all going to finish today, but I’m done. I got my two rounds in. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I’ll be good to go.”
It was a grueling day for the fivetime Masters champion, even more so considering the 48-year-old has endured numerous injuries, numerous surgeries, and a devastating car wreck that nearly cost him his right leg.
Woods was back at the course before sunrise to finish up the final five holes of his opening round, which was cut short by darkness after storms
Thursday morning delayed the start of the tournament by 2½ hours.
He made a couple of bogeys to complete a 73, then had less than an hour to rest up for another 18 holes.
With the wind howling again at Augusta National, Woods had to do all sorts of scrambling to compensate for one wayward approach shot after another. But he kept pulling off nifty chips and clutch putts to keep his score safely above the cut line, which was projected at 4 over when he finished his round.
“I was forced to get up and down a few times today, and I was able to do that,” Woods said. “A lot of those chip shots I was able to get up and down because I left it in the perfect spot, and that’s understanding how to play this golf course . . . Most of the up-anddowns I was in a perfect spot.”
Woods went through a stretch of six straight holes before the turn where he made nothing but birdies or bogeys, but he settled things a bit on the back nine with a single bogey at the 14th — where his approach from 150 yards sailed into the gallery behind the green — and a two-putt birdie at the par-5 15th after clearing the pond with two booming shots.
Even though he faces a daunting deficit with the trio Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, and Max Homa tied atop the leaderboard at 6 under, Woods still thinks he has a chance to equal Jack Nicklaus’s record of six green jackets.
“I’m right there,” he said. “I don’t think anyone is going to run off and hide right now, but it’s really bunched. The way the ball is moving on the greens, chip shots are being blown, it’s all you want in a golf course.”
Rahm squeaks in
Jon Rahm went from fighting for the green jacket a year ago to fighting back from below the cut line at the Masters.
The defending champion was 6 over and in danger of missing the weekend after a three-putt double-bogey at the par-4 14th. But during a roller-coaster finishing stretch, Rahm made a pair of birdies along with a three-putt bogey at No. 17 before a par at the tough final hole left him 5 over for the championship, and just one shot inside the cut line.
The cut moved from plus-5 to plus-6 as the last groups finished amid brutal winds that sent scores soaring. That brought a group of 11 into the weekend on the number, including former Masters champs Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott.
Justin Thomas melted down for the second straight year and missed the cut by one. He went double-double-bogey-double over his last four holes, taking him from even par and in the thick of the hunt to 7 over and out of it entirely.
Thomas wasn’t alone among the major champions missing the cut.
Reigning British Open winner Brian Harman had a disastrous eight holes to finish his first round Friday, playing the stretch 11 over with two double-bogeys and a triple. The resulting 47 on the second nine at Augusta National, and a first-round 81, left the Georgia native needing far more than a second-round 72.
Jordan Spieth (9 over), Wyndham Clark (7 over) , Dustin Johnson (13 over), Bubba Watson (10 over) , Sergio Garcia (7 over) and Justin Rose (7 over) also missed the cut.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen it like this,” admitted Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, who was 11 over and also missed the cut. “We’ve had a few years where it’s blown, but this is as difficult as I’ve ever played it.”
Eagle has landed
Patrick Cantlay holed out with a pitching wedge on the par-4 17th for an eagle that salvaged his opening round. And Friday, he holed out for an eagle on the par-4 third hole.
He became only the third player at the Masters to make two eagles on different par-4s in the same tournament.
He joined Brett Ogle (Nos. 3 and 14 in 1993) and Brandt Jobe (Nos. 10 and 7 in 2006).