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It was a disappointing afternoon among the
towering Georgia pines for Woods who a year ago stunned the
galleries when he returned from a car crash that almost resulted
in the loss of his right leg to fire a 71 that had the golf
world buzzing.
Even in Thursday's ideal scoring conditions Woods could not
conjure up the same magic and he limped off the 18th green
lamenting a lost opportunity with the forecast predicting rain
and cold temperatures that are sure to put his surgically
repaired leg to an even bigger test.
Asked how his leg felt, Woods had one word: "Sore".
Woods, playing in his 25th Masters, has never missed a Masters
cut as a professional although he did fail to make the weekend
in 1996 when he entered as an amateur.
That streak now appears to be in danger.
"Today was the opportune time to get the round under par, and I
didn't do that today," said Woods. "Most of the guys are going
low today. This was the day to do it.
"Hopefully tomorrow I'll be a little bit better, a little bit
sharper.
After just one competitive round this year, in February at the
Genesis Invitational, the 47-year-old American picked up three
bogeys over his first seven holes.
The 15-times major champion made a late move as he rolled in a
curling 27-foot birdie at the par-five 15th, followed by another
at the par-three 16th, but he closed with a bogey after an
unfortunate break off the tee that left him with an awkward
stance with his right foot in a bunker.
As ever, Woods refused to wave the white flag believing as
always there is a way to get the job done and when it comes to
the Masters few will be writing off his chances.
"This is going to be an interesting finish to the tournament
with the weather coming in," said Woods, already nine shots
behind the early leaders Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm and Brooks
Koepka.
"If I can just kind of hang in there, maybe kind of inch my way
back, hopefully it will be positive towards the end."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Augusta. Editing by Clare Fallon)
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