AUGUSTA, Ga. — In his prime, Tiger Watch was always focused at the top of the leader board: How low can he shoot and how high can he climb? In the second round of this year’s Masters, there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding Tiger Woods, but the golf world’s attention will be directed a bit lower on the board on Friday: Can he make the cut?
Tiger Woods wrapped up his opening round on Friday morning, posting a 1-over-par 73. That meant he started the second round somewhere in the bloated middle of the leader board — tied for 35th, as it turned out — one strong round away from making the cut here for a 24th consecutive time, which would set the tournament record.
The top 50 players (and ties) survive to play the weekend at Augusta National. It’s a different cut line than a typical PGA Tour event, where the top 65 and ties usually advance after two rounds.
There was little chance for Woods to catch his breath. He had a break of barely 45 minutes before he reported to the first tee box to begin his second round.
“It’ll be a natural flow from the finish of the first round and continuation of the second,” he said Thursday evening.
He was in decent shape when he made the turn early Friday afternoon, after an adventurous front nine. After bogeying the fourth and fifth holes, Woods’s name was sliding down the leader board. But he responded with two birdies in the next three holes, including a nine-yard chip-in on the sixth hole.
After nine holes, he was even for the round and 1 over for the tournament.
As the second round unfolds, Woods is well off the pace, but a windy forecast could shake up the leader board Friday. Bryson DeChambeau’s 65 Thursday was more than good enough for the first-round lead. Max Homa, playing alongside Woods, finished up his opening round on Friday morning, scoring birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to post a 67, tying him for third place with Nicolai Hojgaard at the time. But after the front nine of his second round, Homa had moved into the solo lead.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, was alone in second place, one shot behind DeChambeau, and was scheduled to begin his second round at 1:48 p.m. Friday.
Tiger Woods and Homa were among 27 players who were still on the course when play was halted Thursday. The start of the opening round was delayed by 2½ hours due to rain.
Woods began the day at 1-under through 13 holes. He surely didn’t get the rest he preferred between rounds and appeared to be moving a bit more slowly than he had on Thursday.
Asked how his body was holding up Thursday evening, Woods said, “It’s there. The body is okay. We’ve got some work to do yet tonight.”
After posting just one bogey through 13 holes on Thursday, he had two over his five holes Friday morning. His approach shot on No. 14 was too short and his chip was too long. His two-putt resulted in a bogey, bumping him back down to even for the round.
After a pair of pars, Woods found himself in the greenside bunker on No. 18 and then overshot the hole. He missed a 12-foot putt and settled for another bogey.
The 73 was still among his best 18-hole scores the past couple years. After posting an opening-round 71 in 2022, Woods had 74, 78 and 78 en route to a 47th-place finish. And then last year he posted a 74 and a 73 before withdrawing in the third round.
This year’s tournament marks Woods’s 26th Masters. Only two other players have also made 23 straight cuts: Fred Couples and Gary Player.
