AUGUSTA, Ga. – A hobbled Tiger Woods said he will be back for the final round of the 88th Masters Tournament on Sunday despite being in obvious discomfort for parts of Round 3 when he shot 82, his highest-ever score at Augusta National.
The round was his seventh score of 80 or higher in any event, and his fourth in a major.
He winced after some shots, like his second at the par-4 ninth, and made uncharacteristic mistakes that had some wondering if he would withdraw. Still, when asked to identify the biggest challenge he faced, he did not mention his battered body.
“The fact that I was not hitting it very good or putting well,” he said. “I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today. Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it. And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makable putts. I missed a lot of them.”
Woods, 48, has endured multiple back operations, and after being forced to withdraw from last year’s Masters flew to New York for right ankle fusion surgery. He said earlier this week that he is physically challenged by any shot that isn’t on a tee box, a nod to Augusta’s hilly terrain.
What’s more, Woods has not completed four rounds in an official PGA TOUR event since The Genesis Invitational in early 2023.
On Saturday he acknowledged that he was in pain “all day” throughout the third round, like when he tried to shape a left-to-right approach shot out of the trees to the ninth green. (He made bogey.) He was limping slightly and sweating profusely upon walking off the last hole.
The trying day came after Woods went 23 holes on Friday, completing his rain-delayed first round before going 18 for his second. The marathon day wore on him physically, he acknowledged, but at 1 over, he made his record 24th consecutive cut and was just seven off the lead shared by Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau.
Woods insisted after Round 2 that he had a chance to add to his five Masters titles.
Alas, his hopes ended abruptly Saturday. Although he birdied the difficult par-4 fifth hole, Woods seemed to lose focus as he bogeyed the par-3 sixth and then made back-to-back double-bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes. He bogeyed the ninth for a front-nine 42.
“It’s just that I haven’t competed and played much,” he said. “When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that 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.”
The 82-time PGA TOUR winner insisted he would return for the final round Sunday.
“My team will get me ready,” he said. “Kolb (physical therapist Kolby Tullier) has been awesome. It will be a long night and a long warmup session, but we’ll be ready.”
