Woods unable to ‘put it together’
AUGUSTA, Ga. — All around him on Sunday at the Masters, golfers were charging deep into red numbers. Tiger Woods didn’t yet have the game to do the same.
Woods shot his first under-par round at Augusta National since 2015 with a three-under 69, which included an eagle at the parfive 15th. But with a one-over finish — 16 shots behind winner Patrick Reed — he didn’t come close to contending for a fifth green jacket and first since 2005.
“I felt I hit it well enough off the tee to do some things, but I hit my irons awful for the week,” Woods said. “I did not putt well today. I threeputted seven and threeputted 18. I didn’t put it together when I needed to do for the entire week.
“You miss it just a touch here, it gets magnified. And I just didn’t do a good enough job this week in that regard. But overall I’m five or six tournaments into it, to be able to compete out here and to score like I did, it feels good.”
Woods, 42, was grateful to be back at Augusta after he’d missed the previous two years while he recovered from back surgery.
“To face the challenges out there, I missed it,” he said. “I missed competing against these guys. Such a great event. Best-run event in all of our sport.”
Woods, who has played five tournaments in 2018, didn’t indicate when he would compete next, though he should be a lock to compete in the Players Championship on May 10-13.
“The run-up to this event is pretty hard and pretty grueling,” Woods said. “I pushed myself pretty hard to get ready. And I peaked at it four times over the course of my career and it’s tiring.”
Hoffman’s ace
Whether Charley Hoffman ever wins a Masters, he’s got one swing at Augusta National he’ll always remember.
As the leaders were finishing up the front nine, the 41-year-old San Diegan caused a roar when he made a hole in one at the par-three 16th. Hoffman’s six-iron shot landed just over the left bunker, spun to the right and rolled in.
A celebration ensued. Hoffman chest-bumped his caddie and slapped hands with his playing partner, Tony Finau, who injured his ankle Wednesday after his hole in one. The ace was the 29th in Masters history and the 20th at the 16th, the most of any hole.
Casey’s run
With four birdies and an eagle in a five-hole stretch on the back nine, Paul Casey made a bid at the lowest score in Masters history.
After a birdie at the 15th, he needed to par in to shoot nine-under 63 and tie Nick Price (1986) and Greg Norman (1996) for the all-time low. One birdie would have given him a 62 and the lowest score in majors history. But he bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes to finish with a 65 and tied for 15th at five over.