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One 12 months after watching the Masters from a hospital mattress, Tiger Woods is one beneath par in Augusta. His very presence has been sufficient to affect crowds in Augusta, Ga., 25 years after his first Masters championship.
“Now driving — Tiger Woods!” course officers announce within the tee field, setting off roars from the crowed that had been solely eclipsed by their appreciation for Woods’ placing. He drained a 29-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 sixteenth gap, after watching an earlier birdie putt lip out of the outlet on 5.
Woods, 46, teed off for his second spherical Friday afternoon, taking part in alongside Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Joaquín Niemann of Chile in a repeat of their trio from Thursday. However Oosthuizen withdrew after going 4 over par in his first spherical.
Niemann, who at 23 is half Woods’ age, completed Thursday’s spherical at three beneath par to place him within the thick of the group on the high of the leaderboard.
You possibly can comply with stay video of the featured teams on the Masters’ web site. The event can be being aired on CBS and ESPN.
Woods is taking part in his first high-stakes golf in 17 months
Woods has stated his adrenaline kicks in when he hit the course — and he predicted he’ll be sore after placing his surgically repaired proper leg to a brand new take a look at. The adrenaline additionally appeared to kick in for the group, who delighted in his birdie on 16.
“To complete within the purple immediately after as lengthy a layoff as I’ve had and never being in aggressive golf — I do not actually take into account a [father-son] scramble within the PNC, it’s aggressive, however it’s not like this — that is completely completely different,” Woods stated on Thursday.
“However to play this golf course and to do what I did immediately, to make — to hit the photographs in the precise spots — I do know the place to hit it to plenty of these pins, and I miss within the appropriate spots and provides myself good angles. I did that each one day, and I used to be capable of make a number of putts and find yourself within the purple like I’m now.”
It is the primary high-stakes golf for Woods in 17 months, and whereas Thursday’s outcomes fueled the frenzy round his return to Augusta Nationwide, Woods was fast to say he was merely grateful to be competing in any respect — and reminding everybody that it was simply in the future of the event that ends on Sunday.
The golfer atop the leaderboard going into Friday was Sungjae Im of South Korea, who began his second spherical at 5 beneath par. He was trailed by Cameron Smith, the world No. 6 participant who was only one stroke behind Im after Thursday.
Strolling the course could also be his greatest problem, Woods says
Woods final received the Masters in 2019, at age 43, claiming his fifth inexperienced jacket. His return has introduced a well-recognized buzz again to Augusta’s manicured course, a phenomenon that features his fellow professionals.
A group of feedback from the PGA Tour web site:
- “I imply, what number of comebacks has he had?” — Jordan Spieth
- “I do know one factor about him, he is positively not missed any days of making an attempt to get better and get essentially the most out of no matter he has now.” — Stewart Cink
- “I imply, are we actually that shocked?” — Zach Johnson
Woods crashed an SUV and hit a tree in February 2021, in a violent high-speed accident that despatched his car into the air, touchdown on its facet. Excessive accidents to his proper leg prompted docs to contemplate a possible amputation, however they had been capable of stabilize it by inserting a rod into his tibia and utilizing screws and pins to assist his foot and ankle.
Earlier this week, Woods instructed journalists that he believes he has an opportunity to win the Masters.
“I really like competing, and I really feel like if I can nonetheless compete on the highest degree, I’ll, and if I really feel like I can nonetheless win, I’ll play,” Woods stated. “But when I really feel like I can not, then you definately will not see me out right here. You guys know me higher than that.
“I do not present as much as an occasion until I believe I can win it,” he added. “So that is the perspective I’ve had. There will probably be a day when it will not occur, and I will know when that’s.”
Bodily, Woods stated, he is not nervous about hitting the ball and taking part in golf. The true concern, he stated, is strolling the hills at Augusta Nationwide, evaluating it to the problem of “a serious marathon.”
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