He’s back.
The most famous golfer of all time will make his long-awaited return to one of the sport’s most famous tournaments when he tees it up Thursday morning at The Masters. It will mark the four-time winner’s first appearance at the season’s first major since 2015.
Woods, who hasn’t captured the green jacket since 2005, will go off Thursday morning at 10:42 a.m. ET, alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Marc Leishman.
We’ll be all over his round, too, with hole-by-hole, shot-by-shot updates throughout the day.
FIRST HOLE (par 4, 445 yards)
1st shot: Woods’ first shot in his return … could have gone better. He yanked the 3-wood left and he’ll be hitting from the pine needles.
2nd shot: The second shot from the trees is pretty good, all things considered. The ball runs up just short of the green, and he’ll have 26 yards to the pin.
3rd shot: Tiger’s been brilliant with the wedge around the green this year, but he opted for the putter here, and it worked out splendidly. He rolled it to within inches for a terrific par save.
4th shot: Tap-in for par.
Score: Even through one hole
SECOND HOLE (par 5, 575 yards)
1st shot: He opts for the driver on the par-5 second, and he rips it down the right-center with a little club twirl for added effect — 351 yards. If he’s got the driver going this weekend, he’ll be in contention.
2nd shot: Opportunity missed with the second at the second, as the approach bleeds right into the greenside bunker. Woods knew it right away, stomping his foot as the ball took flight. He’ll still have up and down to get to 1-under, though.
3rd shot: Woods’ bunker shot is good, running by the hole. He’ll have 12 feet left for birdie.
4th shot: Just missed. The right-to-left putt goes around the hole.
5th shot: Tap-in for par.
Even through two holes
THIRD HOLE (par 4, 350 yards)
1st shot: Driver again, and it’s murdered again, albeit dialed down to “only” 324 yards, leaving a short pitch with 17 yards to the pin.
2nd shot: Woods with a nifty little chip that lands about hole-high, skids by and stops with 12 feet back for birdie.
3rd shot: It took three holes, but Tiger Woods is under par at The Masters, rolling in his putt for birdie.
1-under through three holes
FOURTH HOLE (par 3, 240 yards)
1st shot: He loved it, but he left it short, and it ends up in the bunker.
2nd shot: Decent bunker shot, but he has a lot of work left — 16 feet for par.
3rd shot: Runs it by to the left, and he’ll give it back.
4th shot: Tap-in for bogey; Woods is now 16-over in his career at the fourth.
even through four holes
FIFTH HOLE (par 4, 455 yards)
1st shot: Back to the 3-wood at the fifth, and he lands it in one of the large fairway bunkers down the left. He’ll have 153 to the pin.
2nd shot: Great second shot, all things considered, out of the bunker and on the green with a lonnnng birdie putt on the way.
3rd shot: The long putt runs by, and there’s a lot of work left for par.
4th shot: Nope.
5th shot: Tap-in for bogey, and Woods is 1-over after consecutive bogeys.
1-over through five holes
SIXTH HOLE (par 3, 180 yards)
1st shot: Brilliant tee shot at the par-3 sixth to pin-high from 7 feet leaves a great chance to get back to even.
2nd shot: The short putts that were falling earlier in the year aren’t — yet. He didn’t hit the 7-footer hard enough, and it breaks just to the left at the cup.
3rd shot: Tap-in for par.
1-over through six holes
SEVENTH HOLE (par 4, 450 yards)
1st shot: Striped 3-wood leaves a short iron from about 148 in the fairway.
2nd shot: Don’t know if it was a mishit or wrong call with the club, but a seemingly easy shot from the fairway ends up on the green but 31 feet from the pin.
3rd shot: The putt goes by a few feet, and some work is left for bogey.
4th shot: The 5-footer rolls in for par.
1-over through seven holes
EIGHTH HOLE (par 5, 570 yards)
1st shot: Another solid drive, and he’s in the middle of the fairway after a 303-yard tee shot.
2nd shot: Garden-variety second shot is hammered to about 40 yards away, giving him a manageable shot at birdie.
3rd shot: The close approach, quite frankly, isn’t great. The pitch goes running by, and he’s got 30 feet for the birdie putt. Not ideal.
4th shot: The putt is a strong one, to about 4 feet.
5th shot: The 4-footer is good, and he stays at 1-over.
1-over through eight holes
NINTH HOLE (par 4, 460 yards)
1st shot: The tee shot flirts with disaster down the left side, but it works out and appears to find a favorable lie in the first cut.
2nd shot: Looks like a wedge for the second shot that lands roughly hole high and settles above the hole toward the back of the green with about 35 feet for birdie.
3rd shot: Gets it close and it’s another par.
4th shot: Tap-in for par, and he makes the turn at 1-over.
1-over through nine holes
10TH HOLE (par 4, 495 yards)
1st shot: The back nine starts with a 3-wood that’s absolutely pounded down the middle — 316 yards, to be exact.
2nd shot: The approach shot almost finds trouble in the bunker, but it ends up on the fringe where he’ll have about 20 feet from there.
3rd shot: Useful little chip from the fringe leaving a tap-in for par.
4th shot: (Another) tap-in for par.
1-over through 10 holes
11TH HOLE (par 4, 505 yards)
1st shot: The driver has been great all round — until now. The tee shot at 11 goes way right, to the point that Woods was begging for it to go more right in order to give him a manageable angle. We’ll soon find out if he got that angle.
2nd shot: Disastrous second shot. The only person who might have had it worse than Woods is whoever got hit by the errant punch shot or stinger.
3rd shot: And he rebounds nicely with a wedge over the flag, leaving a makeable 20-foot putt for par.
4th shot: Never really looked like it had a chance … and it misses wide.
5th shot: Tap-in for bogey. On to Amen Corner.
2-over through 11 holes
12TH HOLE (par 3, 155 yards)
1st shot: This isn’t going well at all. The tee shot on 12 is in the water.
2nd/3rd shot: The chip from the drop zone is just OK, and Woods has left himself 15 feet from the fringe. Getting out of here with a bogey would be a win.
4th shot: And he rolls in the bogey putt, which is a potential tournament-saver, especially heading to the 13th hole, which he’s played his career at 48-under, the best to-par score of any hole on the course.
3-over through 12 holes
13TH HOLE (par 5, 510 yards)
1st shot: Not the tee shot Woods was looking for, as he finds the pine straw down the right side and leaves himself with 243 to the pin. Probably laying up here.
2nd shot: The second shot is punched out of the pine straw and is in with the patrons. The struggle is very real right now.
3rd shot: And through all that, he’s got a decent birdie look. He had a good angle with the pitch, which he got to about 12 feet.
4th shot: Nope.
5th shot: Tap-in for par. Running out of time to make up some of the ground he’s given away.
3-over through 13 holes
14TH HOLE (par 4, 440 yards)
1st shot: Time to get busy, and the shot is directly down the middle with 161 left to the pin.
2nd shot: That might be the best shot of the day for Woods. He hits the short iron to the left of the pin and spins it back and gets it below the hole. Seven feet for birdie.
3rd shot: Huge birdie for Woods, who gets one back and still has a par 5 left on the course.
2-over through 14 holes
15TH HOLE (par 5, 530 yards)
1st shot: And it’s another rough start to a par 5 that he’s owned in recent years. The tee shot is way right, and Tiger has some work to do.
2nd shot: He goes from one side to the other. The second shot was from the way right, and it looks like he’s now by the tree line on the left side of the whole, but he does have an open look at the green from there, assuming there aren’t any hanging trees and the lie is decent.
3rd shot: The approach shot is fine albeit nothing special, and Woods is now dealing with a 26-foot birdie putt.
4th shot: Another missed opportunity.
5th shot: Tap-in for par, and Woods will play the par 5s at even for the day — he was 150-under on the par 5s in his career entering Thursday.
2-over through 15 holes
16TH HOLE (par 3, 170 yards)
1st shot: The tee shot at the par-3 16th was a good one, although it was inches from being pedestrian. Woods landed the shot in the middle of the green, and it just barely caught the right side of the ridge and rolled back down to below the hole where he’ll have 22-foot uphill putt.
2nd shot: And he sinks the putt, a huge birdie that gets him inching back closer to even — and he’s four shots off the lead.
1-over through 16 holes
17TH HOLE (par 4, 440 yards)
1st shot: He’s feeling it. Woods hammers the tee shot more than 300 yards and gives the club a twirl for good measure.
2nd shot: A little long, but it will do. Woods’ second shot goes a little past the pin and is on the fringe, but he’s got a look at birdie.
3rd shot: Probably could have used a little more to that putt, as Woods leaves it right and a little short.
4th shot: Tap-in for par.
1-over through 17 holes
18TH HOLE (par 4, 465 yards)
1st shot: He hammers the driver, a little fade, 292 yards off the tee.
2nd shot: The approach shot is just a little long, on the fringe behind the back-of-the-green pin location. He’s got about 20 feet for birdie, two putts for a par and 73.
3rd shot: A late break to the left, and Woods can’t make birdie on 18.
4th shot: Tap-in for par, and Tiger Woods grinds his way to a 73. It could have been better, and it could have been worse.
Tiger finishes the day at 1-over, good for a tie at 29th heading into the second round. He’ll tee off at 1:27 p.m. ET on Friday.
