Thursday at the Masters was a pretty solid encapsulation of Tiger Woods’ most recent return attempt.
At times, Woods looked like his old self, bombing drives all over Augusta National Golf Club and making a few clutch putts. At other times, though, he looked like the player still struggling to regain his once legendary form. In all, it was a grind.
But when it was all said and done, the former world No. 1 was able to muster a 1-over 73 to keep himself in the hunt.
He’ll head out Friday afternoon with hopes of chasing down big names like Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth at the top of the leaderboard. Woods’ tee time is set for 1:27 p.m. ET, and we’ll have hole-by-hole updates right here.
FIRST HOLE
1st shot: When the sun went down Thursday in Augusta, Woods was seven shots back. He’s now just four shots back and his first tee shot of the afternoon is a driver down the left-center of the fairway … 339 yards.
2nd shot: An absolutely perfect drive goes to waste, as he goes long and a little left, with the approach shot trickling off the back.
3rd shot: The chip shot is … well, it wasn’t good. It just barely gets up to the fringe, and he’s honestly lucky it didn’t roll back toward him or into the greenside bunker.
4th shot: He gets it close, but can’t sink it, and it’s a horrible bogey start for Woods, who wasted a wonderful drive.
5th shot: Tap-in for bogey.
2-over through one
Some perspective:
SECOND HOLEÂ (par 5, 575 yards)
1st shot: One day after an uncharacteristic showing on the par 5s (playing them at even par), Friday is off to a rough start, too. His drive at 2 goes way left, but he gets some help with a fortunate bounce into the fairway. It’s just a 231-yard drive.
2nd shot: He gets creative with the second shot, an iron, trying to shape it back to the left. It’s good enough, with 73 yards left to the pin.
3rd shot: Meh. The chip shot goes a little long, and he’s got 30 feet coming back for birdie.
4th shot: The tricky downhill runs by the hole, but he’s got a manageable second putt for par.
5th shot: He makes the par putt … and the par 5 thing continues.
2-over through two
THIRD HOLE (par 4, 350 yards)
1st shot: Well, that’s one way to respond. Woods pummels the driver down the middle, and the ball almost rolled up onto the third green. It rolls back down in front — 335 yards from the tee — and he’ll have a chip shot for the second.
2nd shot: The pitch is a good one, and he’s got 7 feet left for birdie.
3rd shot: Stop us if you’ve heard this before: another missed opportunity. The 7-footer slides left to right and misses the hole.
4th shot: Tap-in for par.
2-over through three
FOURTH HOLE (par 3, 240 yards)
1st shot: Apparently the second round is going to be a grind, too. The tee shot goes way long — a good 25 yards behind the green. It’s going to be a real tough second shot, too, with the green sloping toward the front.
2nd shot: All things considered, a really good shot from behind the green. He landed it off the green and let it trickle on. Another foot or so, and it would have rolled down even closer, but he has 11 feet left for an improbable up-and-down.
3rd shot: Incredible. He makes the putt and saves par.
2-over through four
FIFTH HOLE (par 4, 455 yards)
1st shot: The tee shot is right the whole way. He’ll have about 210 into the green, and he’s probably looking at some sort of fade.
2nd shot: Horrible. No other way to put it, as Woods flies it over the green again and it’s into the woods.
4th shot: He takes the drop for the unplayable lie and is able to punch it out of the woods — into the bunker. Up and down for double bogey would be something.
5th shot: Good chip out of the bunker, and it will be 5 feet for double.
6th shot: He makes the putt, and gets out of there with a double-bogey. Contending seems like a pipe dream now, and making the cut is going to become an issue if he doesn’t turn it around.
4-over through five
SIXTH HOLE (par 3, 180 yards)
1st shot: He’s long and over the green, this time at the par-3 sixth. There’s work to be done, especially with the cut line currently sitting at 4-over.
2nd shot: The pitch from the back is good, and Woods has 4 feet left for par.
3rd shot: He finishes the up-and-down for par.
4-over through six
SEVENTH HOLE (par 4, 450 yards)
1st shot: Woods hits the 3-wood down the left side where it finds the first cut, but it should be OK.
2nd shot: Frustration is starting to set in, it seems. The second shot isn’t bad, per se, but once again it was long. It could have been worse — the ball came to rest on the fringe and could have rolled into the bunker — but he clearly wanted it to come back, which it didn’t.
3rd shot: He opts to putt, and it never really stood a chance. Six feet coming back up the hill for par.
4th shot: Makes it for par, but he’s gone nine straight holes dating back to the first round without a birdie.
4-over through seven
EIGHTH HOLE (par 5, 570 yards)
1st shot: He crushes the driver, clearing the bunker and leaving himself a shot at the green from the first cut.
2nd shot: Relatively speaking, another missed opportunity. He rips the second shot, but it goes left of the green where there’s no shortage of undulation. It will be a tricky up-and-down if he wants to get a shot back.
3rd shot: There’s some of the touch around the green we’ve seen in recent tournaments from Woods. He goes with the flop shot and stops it pin-high with about 11 feet left for birdie.
4th shot: Missed it. Again.
5th shot: Tap-in for par.
4-over through eight
NINTH HOLE (par 4, 460 yards)
1st shot: Hammers the drive, even twirls the drive. But that’s pretty much the only club he’s hit well so far, so no need to get too excited.
2nd shot: … annnnd it’s another terrible shot. This time, Woods hits the false with a lot of spin, and it comes all the way back off the front and down into the fairway.
3rd shot: The pitch isn’t great, either. He’ll have a 15-foot putt going downhill to save par.
4th shot: Naturally, he sinks it. What a weird 27 holes.
4-over through nine
TENTH HOLE (par 4, 495 yards)
1st shot: Sends the drive off to the right and just beside the fairway. Not an awful cut of rough, but certainly has some work to do.
2nd shot: Fair approach with the wedge, goes to the back of the green, leaving him with a challenging putt for birdie.
3rd shot: Gnarly break on the putt, he misses short and to the left. Not too much left, but certainly not a tap-in.
4th shot: He sinks it for par.
4-over through 10
ELEVENTH HOLE (par 4, 505 yards)
1st shot: Looked apprehensive after hitting it, but it could be worse. He’s in the rough off to the right, but as long as he keeps the approach somewhat short beneath the trees, he should be fine.
2nd shot: About 205 yards to the hole, and he strikes it well and puts it past the pin. Great play out of that situation to not leave it too short with the low pin placement.
3rd shot: Birdie putt is just a bit heavy and rolls past the left side of the cup.
4th shot: Knocks in the par.
4-over through 11
TWELFTH HOLE (par 3, 155 yards)
1st shot: And here we go. Puts a bad swing on the tee shot and nearly throws his club onto the ground. It’s in the drink.
2nd shot: Penalty stroke.
3rd shot: Tremendous job on the drop making up for the previous error. Sends it right over the water and a few feet from the hole. Should be able to walk away with a bogey.
4th shot: He rolls it in. Mind you, the current estimated cut is at 5-over.
5-over through 12
THIRTEENTH HOLE (par 5, 510 yards)
1st shot: Hits it high and long, catches the first cut of rough, but still leaves himself with a nice approach shot opportunity to go for eagle.
2nd shot: 176 yards to the pin, and plays it safely to the back of the green. Gets a nice roll off the slope, leaving him in a good spot to at least get it close on his first putt.
3rd shot: Wonderfully done with a tough putt. He puts it just above the cup after reading the insane break quite well.
4th shot: Tap-in for birdie, his first on a par 5 so far this tournament.
4-over through 13
FOURTEENTH HOLE (par 4, 440 yards)
1st shot: He liked that drive, right down the middle of the fairway, even gave the club a twirl. It has been a while since he’s hit a fairway off the tee, so that certainly must be a welcomed moment for him.
2nd shot: Again hits the back of the green, leaving himself with a challenging downhill putt.
3rd shot: Good read, but the ball tails off just at the end.
4th shot: Tap-in for par.
4-over through 14
FIFTEENTH HOLE (par 5, 530 yards)
1st shot: He strikes another solid drive, this time off to the left a touch and near some trees that surely will make his next shot a bit challenging.
2nd shot: Does a fine job making up for it, getting the ball around the tree and to the back of the green.
3rd shot: Gets it close to the cup, he’s about to knock down another birdie.
4th shot: Taps it in.
3-over through 15
SIXTEENTH HOLE (par 3, 170 yards)
1st shot: Hits a nice eight iron to the fringe on the back of the green.
2nd shot: Pretty long on the putt.
3rd shot: Misses again.
4th shot: Knocks it in.
4-over through 16
SEVENTEENTH HOLE (par 4, 440 yards)
1st shot: Another drive he appears happy with, lands it just off the fairway on the left side.
2nd shot: Wonderful approach on the penultimate hole. Leaves himself with a makable put from 15-20 feet out.
3rd shot: Misses the birdie putt.
4th shot: Saves par.
4-over through 17
EIGHTEENTH HOLE (par 4, 465 yards)
1st shot: Great shot off the tee, long and straight down the fairway, but stops just short of the bunker.
2nd shot: Solid approach, just off to the left of the flag for a long birdie putt. That said, nothing insurmountable.
3rd shot: Ball doesn’t break as much as he thought it would, misses just left.
4th shot: Tap-in for par.
Tiger finishes the day at 4-over on the tournament, 3-over on the day.
