Tiger Woods Winces With Pain in the First Round of The Masters 2023

Tiger Woods confessed on Thursday that he was in “constant” discomfort throughout his first round of The Masters. In his 25th appearance at Augusta National, the 47-year-old could be seen wincing at various moments throughout a tumultuous start, carding a two-over 74.

The five-time Masters champion finished nine strokes behind Norwegian playing partner Viktor Hovland, who returned to the clubhouse tied for the lead after a scorching seven-under opening round.

Woods noted on Tuesday that he wasn’t sure if this was his final appearance in the tournament. Since suffering severe leg injuries in a horrific vehicle accident in 2021, the fifteen-time major champion’s competitive outings have been intermittent.

Woods shocked many by cutting the 2022 Masters, but his physical challenges to handle the mountainous Augusta terrain were clear, exacerbated by surgery that had placed a rod and pins in his right leg.

One year later, he finished his first round by hopping on his left leg following a difficult escape shot from a bunker at the 18th hole. When asked about his leg after his round, Woods was frank.

“I’m sore,” Tiger Woods told a CNN reporter. “It’s alright to hop on the left leg. If I did it on the other one, it wouldn’t be that good,” he continued.

Woods started slowly, making three bogeys in his opening seven holes, but the five-time Masters champion responded with a birdie at the eighth.

Watching Woods all day, the audience nearly roared as he chipped a superb approach, only to be denied eagle by an inch.

A fourth bogey at the 11th hole pushed him to three over, but Woods appeared to be rounding up his round with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes. Woods’ final bogey exacerbated a miserable afternoon as he narrowly missed a birdie putt to get to even par on the penultimate hole.

Woods has only missed the cut once in his previous 24 Augusta outings, and if he makes the weekend, he will tie Fred Couples and Gary Player for the most consecutive cuts at the major.

With a slew of competitors off to excellent starts, Woods will need a strong second round to pull it off.

“I felt like I drove well. “I just didn’t do enough to get the ball close,” Woods explained. “Today was the ideal time to get the ball – to get the round under par, and I didn’t do it.”

“The majority of the guys are going low today.” This was the perfect day to do it. Hopefully, I’ll be a little better, sharper, and able to inch through it tomorrow.

“With the weather coming in, this will be an interesting tournament finish.” If I can stick in there and inch my way back, hopefully, everything will turn out well.”

Woods is slated to tee off for his second round at 1:24 p.m. ET on Friday. (6:24 p.m. BST).

Keywords: tiger woods at the Masters, updates on tiger woods, tiger woods height, tiger woods news, masters tiger woods, tiger woods Augusta National, masters 2023 tiger Woods, tiger woods net worth,

People Also Reading:

President Biden Blames Trump Over Afghanistan Fiasco

Twitter Labels NPR “State-Affiliated Media”