Augusta, Georgia (AP) — With a final round score of 16 over 304, Tiger Woods achieved his best 72-hole total in a three-decade career. It was a record he could live without.
2015 saw Woods reach a previous high of 302 at the Memorial. At the Masters two years ago, he shot 78-78 on the weekend and finished at 301, the only other time he has failed to break 300.
Notwithstanding the result, Woods referred to it as a “good week” and announced that he would start getting ready for the remaining three majors: the British Open in July, the U.S. Open in June, and the PGA Championship in May.
“This is a golf course I knew going into it, so I’m going to do my homework going forward at Pinehurst, Valhalla and Troon,” Woods said. “But that’s kind of the game plan.”
In general, he was satisfied with his performance.
“Coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time, it was a good fight on Thursday and Friday,” Woods said. “Unfortunately (Saturday) didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to.”
It was barely noticeable to the throng.
When the 48-year-old Woods pitched near the hole on No. 18 and made par, the crowd erupted in cheers. Woods is still recovering from multiple surgeries that have affected his body and reduced his playing time on the PGA Tour.
Donning his customary Sunday red, Woods nodded to the assembly.
Coming into the Masters, Woods had only completed 24 holes in one competition.
“I will simply continue to lift weights, maintain my body’s motion, grow stronger, and make progress,” stated Woods. “Perhaps the training sessions will continue to lengthen.”
When he was done, Woods ranked last out of the sixty players who had made the cut. He had previously placed last at the Riviera Genesis Invitational in 2020.
Despite the fact that he isn’t as dominant at Augusta National as he once was, fans still came to see the man who elevated golf’s popularity.
Since his incredible fifth victory at age 43 in 2020, when he tied for 38th, Woods hasn’t really been competitive here.
He placed 13th more than two years ago, but injuries that weren’t made better by the chilly, wet weather that had clearly taken a physical toll on his body forced him to withdraw in the third round of the 2023 tournament.
This week, Woods briefly displayed flashes of his past greatness while primarily relying on his course knowledge.
Making the cut for a record 24 times, he played the first two rounds in under an hour. However, Woods struggled in the last two rounds; on Saturday, he shot an 82, the lowest round of his major career.
“I enjoy returning here because I am familiar with the course and know how to play it,” Woods remarked. “I can mimic shots in a way. Of course, it never quite compares to actually being outside and doing it.
In his 100th career round at the Masters, he shot 77 on Sunday after completing the last 36 holes in 15 over.
Charlie, Woods’ 15-year-old son, appeared to give him some swing advice prior to the round at the practice range.
Though that didn’t last long, things got off to a decent start.
Woods shot a 1 under after two holes, but bogeyed the third. Things went south on the par-4 fifth hole when he took an unplayable lie and had to be driven back to the tee box in a golf cart in order to hit again. He ultimately scored a triple-bogey 7.
On the sixth, he added another bogey.
On hole 16, he came dangerously close to chipping in from the sand, thrilling the crowd and bringing back happy memories of his famous chip in that year, when he won the fourth of his five championships at Augusta.
Woods claimed that battling the wind, which occasionally reached 45 mph with gusts, was the hardest part of the week for him.
“The way the course was playing, what it was doing to the golf shots, the balls, and the putting,” Woods remarked. “It doesn’t take much to get out of position here. Unfortunately, I got out of position a lot (Saturday) and a couple times today.”
The once-dominant Woods played with Neal Shipley, the only amateur to make the cut at the Masters.
It served as a sobering reminder of Woods’ lengthy career.
Before Shipley, now 23 years old, was even born, in 1997, Woods started a run of consecutive cuts at the Masters.
Despite no longer being in the running, Woods continues to draw the same enormous crowd of admirers who are anxious to catch a glimpse of the player who rose to prominence in the game. Whether Woods makes a good shot or a poor one, the crowd always cheers him on.
