Friday’s 2d round featured all of the drama lengthy related to golf’s undisputed movie star. Tiger Woods shook off a short climate delay and a near stumble upon with a safety guard, pulled off a miracle healing shot, and sank a few monster putts to put himself one shot off the lead halfway via the Masters.
Friday’s second round featured all of the drama long associated with golfing’s undisputed celeb — whose four-underneath par 68 placed him on six-below 138 and one shot in the back of a great bunch of 5 current and former major champions sharing the lead on seven-below 137. “I feel like I performed my way returned into the tournament,” the forty three-12 months- vintage said. “I became very patient these days, felt superb to be out there doing what I changed into doing.
This is now three instantly majors that I’ve been inside the mix, and so it’s accurate stuff.” Despite the leading institution’s undeniable credentials, it became Woods’s surge toward the top that stole the highlight. After contending to close yr’s British Open and PGA Championship in his first season back from spinal fusion surgery, Woods is once more in the role to feature to his tally of 14 official titles for the first time reason that 2008 US Open.
Woods wasn’t perfect, with a few brilliant misses of mid-and brief-variety putts. He neglected an 8-footer to keep par at the 8th, a 5-footer for birdie at 12, a 12-footer for birdie at thirteen, and any other 8-footer birdie at 17. The massive gallery that caught with him via the afternoon rain held its breath as he stood over a 14-foot birdie strive at 18 that would have placed him a few of the leaders, but it dribbled away on the hole, and he settled for a par.
Yeah, I overlooked a few putts accessible, but I’m now not too bummed out about it because I hit them on my traces,” Woods stated. “So I can stay with that. I can stay with days when I’m hitting putts on my line and that they don’t pass in — that’s the way it goes. “The best two horrific putts I hit these days have been all at the identical hollow, over on eight, I 3-putted. I had a terrible first putt and an awful 2nd putt.
But other than that, my velocity becomes excellent, and I hit lots of putts that looked like they have been stepping into.” And he had a few lengthy-range bombs to compensate — including a 37-footer for birdie on the ninth, any other from 28 toes at 14, and a 30-footer at 15. “They had been satisfactory to make, and if I maintain hitting the putts on my line, they’ll start dropping,” he said.
Woods made the only birdie of the day at the par-4 eleventh and had caught his technique at the par-3 twelfth five ft from the pin while the siren sounded to droop play due to lightning within the place. When play resumed after half an hour, Woods ignored the putt. He neglected a 12-foot birdie strive at the subsequent but came up with a thriller at 14, bending a shot thru the timber.
I was trying to hit the ball short,” he stated. “If it came about to bypass up, exquisite, but make certain I hold it at the flag facet … If I maintain it at the flag facet, I even have a flat pitch. “That turned into the sport plan, and it got here out perfect to fruition.
The rain was nevertheless falling as Woods headed closer to the green at 14, and a protection officer, hurrying to keep the crowds at the back of him, misplaced his footing and slid into Woods’s right leg. Woods took a few scary, stumbling steps; however, they later stated himself simply great. “I’ve had galleries run over me,” he stated. “When you play in front of quite a few human beings, matters manifest.
