After his next record coup at the Masters, Tiger Woods knew exactly what his battered body needed after eight hours of hard work on the golf course. “I just need something to eat and some caffeine and I’m good to go,” joked the now 48-year-old Californian on the historic day at the Augusta National Golf Club.
He made the cut at the Masters for the 24th time in a row. No player had ever achieved this feat before on the beautiful golf course at Magnolia Lane.
Since his first Masters victory in 1997, Woods has always qualified for the two decisive rounds on the weekend in his starts at Augusta. The 15-time major champion trumped South Africa’s golf legend Gary Player and US idol Fred Couples, who each made the cut at the Masters 23 times in a row. “As soon as I’m done with the media, I’m going to text Freddy and tease him a little,” a cheerful Woods revealed.
US trio at the top
Woods had previously finished his second round with 72 strokes and made it into the weekend with a total of 145 strokes. The five-time Masters winner was tied for 22nd place after the second day and was seven shots behind the top trio from the USA. Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau and world number one Scottie Scheffler led the field of participants in the 88th Masters at halftime with 138 strokes each.
The stormy wind made life on the golf course extremely difficult for Woods and Co. on the second day of the tournament. “I’m tired. It’s been a long 23 holes, a long day,” admitted Woods, who also had to finish the last five holes of his first round early in the morning. The evening before, the opening round was canceled due to darkness.
Homa, who spent the first two rounds on the golf course with Woods, was thrilled with his performance: “Sometimes in the last two days I just looked over and had a great time as a fan with a slightly better vantage point.”
Masters debutant Jäger fails to make the cut
Woods still has his sights set on his possible sixth Masters triumph. “I’m here,” he said. “I have a chance to win the golf tournament.” He doesn’t think anyone can escape in these stormy conditions. “It’s really tight.” It remains to be seen whether Woods can hold his own physically on the two crucial days. The long-standing world number one broke his right leg several times in a serious car accident in February 2021. Since then, Woods has only competed in a few select tournaments.
For the German Masters debutant Stephan Jäger, however, the Masters ended after day two. The 34-year-old from Munich, who has lived in the USA for a long time, clearly failed to make the cut after rounds of 74 and 80 strokes and was eliminated early.
