Tiger Woods pleased with 1-under 71 in return at Masters, but knows ‘long way to go’ at Augusta National

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As Tiger Woods stood within the pine straw alongside the left aspect of the 14th fairway in the course of the first spherical of the Masters at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership on Thursday, he had two choices: Punch out his ball after a wayward tee shot or rip an iron and attempt to attain the inexperienced.

Two years in the past, earlier than Woods practically misplaced his proper leg in a automotive accident, there would have been no query about what he would do. However now, after surgeons pieced collectively his severely broken proper leg, foot and ankle with a rod, plates and screws, there needed to be some doubt creeping by way of the 15-time main champion’s thoughts.

Would Woods slip within the pine straw? Would he be placing an excessive amount of torque on his surgically repaired proper leg by swinging so arduous?

“I used to be going to tug it off,” Woods mentioned. “I had a niche. I had a window. I used to be going to hit it.”

Woods pulled off the shot, and his ball settled simply over the again of the inexperienced. He ended up bogeying the par-4 14th gap to drop again to even par. However that shot, maybe greater than some other for him Thursday, confirmed how far Woods has come within the 14 months since his wreck.

And it confirmed that Woods, 46, may very properly be a contender to win his sixth inexperienced jacket this weekend, which might tie him with Jack Nicklaus for many ever.

In his first aggressive spherical of golf in 509 days, Woods shot 1-under 71 within the first spherical. He was 3 pictures behind Cameron Smith after ending his spherical; Sungjae Im later took the clubhouse lead at 5 beneath.

“I am solely three again,” Woods mentioned. “We have a protracted approach to go. This golf course goes to vary dramatically — cooler, drier, windier. You may hear the SubAirs on on the market. This golf course goes to vary, and it should get much more troublesome.”

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Tiger Woods displays on a powerful opening spherical again on the Masters.

It was Woods’ first event spherical since he was critically injured in a automotive accident exterior Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 2021. He hadn’t performed in an official occasion since November 2020, when he tied for thirty eighth on the Masters, which was performed later that 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m as sore as I anticipated to really feel, however it was superb,” Woods mentioned. “Like I used to be telling the crew all week, come recreation time, will probably be a unique deal. My adrenaline will kick in. I am going to get into my very own little world, and I am going to get after it. It is concerning the coaching that we have completed to have the stamina to go.”

Woods received to 1 beneath with a 29-foot birdie putt on the par-3 sixteenth gap. Simply because the ball dropped within the gap, he raised his proper fist to the group.

It was an up-and-down spherical for Woods. He hit 8 of 14 fairways and 9 of 18 greens. He wanted simply 27 putts, together with 13 on the primary 9 holes. He averaged 283.3 yards off the tee and badly pulled 4 of his drives left. He was even-par on the 4 par-5 holes and a pair of beneath on the 4 par 3s.

“To complete within the crimson as we speak after as lengthy a layoff as I’ve had and never being in aggressive golf [is good],” Woods mentioned. “I do know the place to hit it [on] a whole lot of these pins, and I miss within the appropriate spots and provides myself good angles. I did that every one day, and I used to be in a position to make a couple of putts and find yourself within the crimson like I’m now.”

Similar to in apply rounds earlier this week, 1000’s of patrons adopted Woods and his enjoying companions, Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen. Woods’ birdie putt on the sixth, thirteenth and sixteenth holes had been adopted by roars that had been lacking at Augusta Nationwide in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the earlier two years.

“That is one thing I am very fortunate to have this chance to have the ability to play, and never solely that, to play within the Masters and to have this kind of reception,” Woods mentioned. “I imply, the place was electrical. I hadn’t performed like this since ’19, once I received as a result of in ’20 we had COVID and we had nobody right here, and I did not play final 12 months (when attendance was restricted). So to have the patrons absolutely out and to have that kind of power on the market was superior to really feel.”

Given the place Woods was in February 2021 and the place he’s now, he is not trying previous what he completed simply by enjoying on Thursday.

“In the event you would have seen how my leg appeared to the place it is at now, the photographs …” Woods mentioned. “A few of the guys know. They’ve seen the photographs, and so they’ve come over to the home and so they’ve seen it. To see the place I have been, to get from there to right here, it was no straightforward activity.”

It was a strong begin for Woods, who final received at Augusta Nationwide in 2019. In his earlier 23 Masters appearances, Woods broke 70 within the first spherical solely twice. His 71.8 scoring common within the opening spherical is a full shot greater than his second-round common and a pair of strokes greater than his third-round common.

After all, these statistics got here from rounds Woods performed earlier than his automotive wreck. His capability to bounce again and his stamina will play an enormous position in whether or not he contends for a sixth inexperienced jacket.

“I’ll be sore, sure,” Woods mentioned. “That is simply the best way it’s. … This is just one spherical. We have three extra to go. There is a lengthy approach to go and a whole lot of pictures to be performed.”