Masters Augusta – 1st round – Tiger Woods: « Here I am exactly where I wanted to be »

He clenched his fist, after his third birdie of the day, the most spectacular, on the 16th. He electrified the crowd. He groaned. He closed his eyes for a good five seconds before unleashing one of his finest shots of the day. He let out a few « damn! » In short, Tiger made Woods. The one before the accident of February 23, 2021.

But Augusta audiences also discovered the new Woods. The miracle. The one whose right leg, iron rod in the tibia for the rest of his life (not to mention the plates in the ankle and the foot), is so bruised that his greatest challenge, in this Masters, is not to hit his drives, to touch the greens or to return his putts, but to walk. The Tiger did not hide his pain. We saw him hold his back. Spectators no longer even hear him implore his leg: « Come on leg, damn !”. But she held on and he with it.

Better than his average score in the 1st round in Augusta

To give an idea of ​​his performance, all it takes is one statistic: Across all of his first 23 Masters appearances, Woods’ average first-round score is 71.8. He fell short and it almost defies belief. « I came here to see if I could play and I was able to do it the way I wanted. I felt good“, he summarized.

However, everything had started badly before it even started. The five-time wearer of the Green Jacket had, by his own admission, had a very difficult start to the day. « I didn’t do a good warm-up at all, he confessed to ESPN. So I remembered what my father used to ask me in those moments: ‘Did you complete any tasks? Did you warm up?’ Yeah, so I could start playing and that’s exactly what I did. I said to myself ‘Come on, you know where to put the ball‘ ».

That, he knows how to do, yes. So he did. Like nothing ever happened. As if he weren’t dragging his paw, limpingly light almost imperceptible to the naked eye for those who don’t know but don’t escape those who know the recent history of the Tiger. « I said to myself, once the adrenaline was well on its way, that I was going to go back into my bubble and that I should be able to manage day-to-day business. I made two stupid mistakes at No. 8 (where he made the first of his two bogeys, editor’s note) after a slight loss of concentration. But I fought to get back in the game« . And so there he is, exactly where he wanted to be.

Everything was not perfect. His drives, without his former power, often remained shorter than he probably would have liked. His approaches lacked accuracy. This was the big downside of his game in this first round. But the quality of his putting and his game of irons allowed him to stay more than afloat to complete this 18 of the big comeback by showing himself stronger than the course, even by a short header with this -1.

Historically, Woods has always played better at the Masters in the second round than in the first. But the deal is obviously different and it is possible that the hardest part is ahead for the American, whose ability to last over the whole of the Georgian weekend remains a real question mark. « The idea is to keep pushing, while being able to recover well every night. It’s the hardest part« , he conceded. It is too early to dream of a 6th coronation synonymous with a record, that of Jack Nicklaus, his only rival in the history of golf. But it is already time to salute a a performance that no one could have imagined just a few weeks ago, except for him, perhaps.