Augusta National tames Tiger
Woods shoots worst round in a major with 82 on Saturday
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods walked off the third green at Augusta National on Saturday, having just missed a birdie putt he thought he should have made, and began striding up the hill toward the long par-3 fourth hole at the Masters.
Little did he know things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Whatever hope Woods had of staying in contention disappeared, along with his confident swing and mastery of the greens. The five-time champion spent the rest of the day struggling to his worst round at a major championship, a 10-over 82 that left Woods looking not only defeated but will force him to play his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday well out of the spotlight.
“I didn’t have a very good warm-up session, and I kept it going all day today,” said Woods, whose worst round at the Masters had been back-to-back 78s in 2022, the last time his battered and broken body was able to play the full weekend.
Woods said he “just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.”
He started the day 1 over and seven shots off the lead, and feeling like he was capable of making a run at Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders. But that was before eight bogeys and two double-bogeys, offset by just a pair of birdies, left the 48-year-old Woods at the bottom of the leaderboard rather than the top.
It was only the fifth round Woods has shot in the 80s as a professional, and only the third in a major. He shot an 80 in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and an 81 in the third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.
His worst round as a pro came in 2015, when he shot an 85 in the third round of the Memorial.
“I haven’t competed and played much,” said Woods, who arrived this week having played just 24 holes of competitive golf this year. “When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that (birdie) putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to flip it, I didn’t.” Hard to flip it playing from the trees. After his tee shot at the seventh bounded through the fairway, Woods dumped his approach in the bunker and made double bogey. At the eighth, he drove it into the trees, punched out and made another double. And to finish off his worst first nine at the Masters, Woods again missed the fairway off the tee, again found a bunker and again walked away with a bogey.
Woods played that four-hole stretch before making the turn in 6 over.
Things didn’t get any better over the next nine.
There was a wayward tee shot at No. 11 — bogey. The missed 6-footer at the 12th — bogey. The drive into the trees at No. 14 — bogey. The chunked chip at the 15th — bogey. The three-putt at the 16th — bogey. And more tree trouble at No. 17 — bogey.
McIlroy’s Grand Slam remains on hold
Rory McIlroy’s bid to complete a career Grand Slam will have to wait yet another year after the world’s second-ranked golfer failed to make a leap up the leaderboard on Saturday at the Masters.
McIlroy shot 71, which was solid, but not nearly enough to climb into contention ahead of the final round.
“All I can do is come here and try my best,” McIlroy said with a shrug of his shoulders. “That’s what I do every time I show up.
Some years it’s better than others. I’ve just got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing.”
The right thing has been elusive at Augusta National for the 34-year-old McIlroy, particularly this week.
He is 3-over 219 for the tournament. The Northern Ireland phenom won the U.S. Open in 2011, the first of two PGA championships in 2012 and the British Open in 2024 to put him on the brink of joining greats Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only players to complete the modern Grand Slam.
At 26, it seemed a forgone conclusion it would happen. And yet here we are nearly 10 later and McIlroy is still searching for the magic formula to solve Augusta National. He’s been close.
He once shot an opening round 65 at
Augusta National, only to fade on the final day. He was the runner-up in 2022 after a final round 64.
The problem has been putting together four great rounds.
His 77 on Friday proved to be his undoing this week.
Still, McIlroy harbored some thoughts of making a run on moving day at the Masters and getting into the mix if he could get hot early. But any early momentum was shunted from he pushed his tee shot on No. 1 into a fairway bunker and missed a 5-foot par putt.
He would rebound to make three birdies and one bogey the rest of the way, and admitted afterward it was hard to complain about his score.
Of course, he wanted more. The shots just didn’t come.