AUGUSTA, Ga. – Given all the uncertainty surrounding his game and preparation, Tiger Woods’s start at the Masters on Thursday was encouraging, as he played 13 holes in 1 under par before the round was called due to darkness.
Now comes the uneasy part: Having to play 23 holes on Friday, with an early start and not much time between the end of the first round and the start of the second.
Overnight storms delayed the start of the year’s first major championship by 2 ½ hours, a far better outcome than was forecasted. It meant Woods teed off with Max Homa and Jason Day at 3:54 p.m., with no chance of finishing.
The fact that they got through 13 holes just before 8 p.m. was mildly surprising. So was Woods’ two-birdie, one-bogey effort.
He got off to a fast start with a nice approach at the first to 8 feet and holed the putt. But he ran into trouble at the par-5 second and had to scramble to save par. He failed to get up and down for a birdie at the third from just off the green, then made his only bogey at the par-3 fourth, a long-time nemesis hole for him.
But there was plenty of good stuff. Woods showed considerable power off the tee and hit some nice iron shots. He got home in two at the par-5 eighth for his other birdie, made nice par saves at the 11th and 12th and then made par at the 13th after driving into the pine straw off the tee.
"The wind was all over the place. It was one of the most tricky days that I've ever been a part of," Woods said. "It was hard to get a beat not only on what direction it was going, but the intensity, and it kept switching all over the place, and then you had to—the timing was affecting putts on the greens. It was a very difficult day."
Woods hit seven of 10 fairways and 7 of 13 greens while saving par from the sand twice. He also had 20 putts for his 13 holes.
It will be a short turnaround, however. Woods will need to wake early as the first round resumes at 7:50 a.m. He should finish the five holes by 9:30 and will have roughly 45 minutes before his second-round tee time of 10:18 a.m.
"We're going to warm up and just kind of head down there and start our round, and I think the flow would be pretty much almost like between 20 and 30 minutes in-between rounds, so it'll be a natural flow from the finish of the first round and continuation of the second," Woods said.
Woods is trying to set a Masters record by making the cut for the 24th consecutive year. He will need to be among the top 50 and ties. He is playing for just the second time this year, having withdrawn from the Genesis Invitational due to illness after 24 holes.
Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler finished their rounds, with DeChambeau leading with 65 and Scheffler, the 2022 Masters champion, a shot back.
DeChambeau is scheduled to tee off at 11:54 a.m. while Scheffler won’t go until 1:48 p.m.
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