Woods barely treading water
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods is nothing if not persistent. So even when not playing his best golf, he will strive to produce the best mediocre version of himself.
It is a description that best characterizes
Woods’ performance at The Masters on Saturday, when the weatherdelayed second round was completed despite a cold, driving rain.
In the end, Woods barely made the midway cut of the event field but he qualified to play the final two rounds for a 23rd consecutive time. Woods’ streak of cuts made ties a Masters record shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples. He has never missed the Masters cut since turning professional in 1996.
“I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,” said Woods, whose halfway tournament score of 3 over par tied him for
49th place. “Obviously I’ve missed a couple Masters with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here. I’ve loved it and I’ve got another chance to play on the weekend. I get two more rounds.”
Woods, 47, resumed his second round Saturday at 2 over par for the tournament after completing only 11 holes before inclement weather suspended play late Friday afternoon.
For Woods, Saturday began inauspiciously just after 8 a.m. at the treacherous and short par-3 12th hole. He navigated the part that is usually the hardest when his tee shot landed 4 feet to the right of the pin. But his short birdie putt attempt went well left of the hole without even touching the rim.
“A terrible putt,” Woods said after his round. “I pulled it.”
On the newly lengthened par-5 13th hole, his drive split the fairway but his attempt at laying up on the second shot squirted to the right and into the gallery. Woods recovered with a deft pitch to 17 feet from the hole but then left his birdie putt short — squandering another birdie opportunity.
At the par-4 14th hole, Woods’ approach shot trundled off the hillside behind the green. He then chipped uphill to 5feet and sank a key par putt. On the par-5 15th hole, Woods again chose to play short of the green with his second shot, and his third shot hit the flag on the fly.
Woods would have been forgiven for thinking he was reliving a nightmare. Ten years ago at the Masters, he hit a shot from a similar distance on the same hole that struck the flagstick and ricocheted into the pond that protects the front of the green. He had to replay the shot and incur a one-stroke penalty. But when
Woods made an illegal drop before his next shot — a violation not detected until the next day — he was nearly disqualified from the tournament. Augusta National officials instead allowed him to remain in the field after a two-stroke penalty. He finished the event in fourth place.
This time, his golf ball rolled backward about 15 feet from the hole but remained on the green. His birdie putt trickled into the center of the hole and Woods moved to 1 under par for the round.
On the 18th hole, Woods’ driver again failed him as he clipped some tree branches about 100 yards from the tee and once again found himself in the slippery pine straw beyond Augusta National’s grassy expanses.
With two putts and another bogey, his second round was complete at 1 over-par 73.
Woods’ clothing and golf cap were soaked with rain as he stalked up the rise behind the green. A considerable gallery sitting beneath umbrellas cheered his exit, but Woods, looking aggravated, did not acknowledge the ovation.