Tiger Woods of the United States lines up a putt on the fourth green during the third round of the 2024 Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP
Tiger Woods saw his dream of a record sixth Masters victory crumble in the third round of Saturday’s Masters after shooting a 10-over par 82 – his worst score ever in 99 rounds at Augusta National.
A day after setting a record by making the cut at his 24th consecutive Masters, the 48-year-old legend made bogeys on four of his final five holes to surpass his previous worst Masters total – 78 in the third and fourth rounds in 2022. .
“I wasn’t hitting very well or putting well,” Woods said. “I didn’t have a very good warm-up session and kept going all day today. Just hit the ball all the places I know I shouldn’t hit it.
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“And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, achievable putts. I missed a lot.
Woods delivered the 78 in his bid to come back from serious leg injuries suffered in a car crash in 2021, injuries that led to surgery on his right ankle last April and leg problems that at times seemed the bother Saturday.
But Woods, who said he was physically exhausted after playing 23 holes Friday due to Thursday’s storms, vowed he would not pull out and finish 72 holes Sunday.
“My team will prepare me,” he said. “The club has been great. It will be a long night and a long warm-up session, but we will be ready.
Asked if at any point the day had turned into a disaster, Woods replied: “All day.”
On Friday, Woods declared with a chance for a sixth green jacket to tie Jack Nicklaus’ record after 36 holes.
Five-time Masters champion Woods, who had rounds of one-over 73 and a par 72 to stand at one-over 145 for 36 holes, had just birdied the fifth following a bogey at the par-3 fourth when disaster struck .
Woods reached the turn with a double bogey, double-bogey and bogey for a 42 on the front nine, his worst nine-hole score on the inside or outside halves of the famous 7,555-yard layout.
His previous worst nine holes were 40 on the front nine of the first round in 1997, en route to his first major title, and in 2004.
The 15-time major winner hobbled the green at the par-3 sixth, then missed a five-foot par putt and made bogey.
At the par-4 seventh, Woods hit two shots into trees and sent his third into a greenside bunker before rolling and missing an 18-foot bogey putt.
It was his first double-bogey of the week, but only a sign of trouble to come.
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Double bogey, double dip
Woods then came to the par-5 eighth, the easiest hole of the week at Augusta National.
Woods pulled his tee shot into the trees left of the fairway, then dashed toward the short grass. He needed two more to reach the green, then missed a 26-foot par putt and a four-footer for bogey.
“It’s just that I haven’t competed a lot and played a lot,” he said. “When I had the opportunity to knock it down when I made that putt at 5, I quickly three-putted six and missed a chip at seven and had it going the wrong way, and When I had the chance to return it, I did.’t’.
Woods found a greenside bunker at the ninth, pitched to nine feet, but then missed his par putt for another bogey to end a horror show in front nine.
Woods missed the green and a six-foot par putt to make bogey at the par-3 12th, responded with an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-5 13th, only to bogey 14 for a third straight round, missing the green with his approach then missed a 15-foot putt.
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That sparked a streak of bogeys for Woods, who, again at the par-5 15th, missed the green with his approach and a 15-foot par putt, then added a three-putt bogey at the par-3 16th and a putt six feet per. missed at 17 for his fourth consecutive bogey before a closing par.
