In his first appearance at Augusta since 2015, the four-times champion showed enough grit to get round in 73 despite struggling with his tee-shots
It was a chilly morning in Augusta, or what passes for it in these parts. The kind of day when you can spot the tourists because they are the only people wearing shorts. Tiger Woods played like he felt it. He was stiff and creaky in his first competitive round here since 2015. By the time he made the turn, the sun was out and weather hot, but he still had not warmed up. Anything but. His game froze up around Amen Corner, where he hit more patrons than he made pars. At least it meant the people in the front row got to see a lot of him.
There was a hint of what was to come in Woods’s opening tee-shot, when he pulled his three wood left into the gallery and had to play out of the pine needles. Just like he did in his very first professional round here, back in 1997. That year he covered the front nine in a four‑over 40. This time he scrambled round in 37, one over. There was a single birdie, when he raked a fine, flat tee-shot right up to the foot of the 3rd green. The roar for that carried right around Augusta. But it was the only one he got all morning.
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