AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods made history once again on Saturday at the 2024 Masters, just not the positive kind.
The five-time Green Jacket winner carded his worst-ever performance on the first nine at Augusta National Golf Club in his 99 rounds at the Masters, a six-over 42 that featured a closing stretch of bogey-double-double-bogey. His second nine wasn’t much better as Woods labored his way down the stretch to the tune of a third-round, 10-over 82, his highest score ever at the Masters. His previous worst score were the pair of weekend 78s he shot to close out the 2022 Masters, where he finished 47th out of 52 players.
On Saturday he walked off the course at 11 over for the tournament, tied for 52nd place.
Woods had supreme control of his driver over the first two rounds but lost whatever momentum he had with the big stick on Saturday. He sprayed the ball all over Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie’s picture-perfect green earth and sprinkled in some shady chipping and putting to put the cherry on top of his round to forget.
‘I didn’t have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today,’ Woods said after his round. ‘Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it. And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makable putts. I missed a lot of them.’
The weather should’ve been ideal for his surgically repaired body that’s held together by pins and screws, but fatigue set in quickly and his game left just as fast. After his round, Woods said a 23-hole day on Friday to make the cut wore him out.
“I wouldn’t say necessarily mental reps. It’s just that I haven’t competed and played much,’ he said of what went wrong. ‘When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to flip it, I didn’t.”
Despite his woeful walk around Augusta National on Saturday, Woods isn’t a quitter. He respects the tournament and course too much and frankly has too much pride to walk away with his tail between his legs because he performed poorly. Woods will get treatment Saturday night and Sunday morning, and if he feels good enough to play, will be back out on the course on Sunday to tee it up in his 100th round at one of his favorite courses.
‘My team will get me ready,’ he said of his chances to play Sunday. ‘It will be a long night and a long warmup session, but we’ll be ready.’