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Tiger Woods is again.
Strolling with the slightest trace of a limp after a devastating automotive wreck that might’ve price him his proper leg, Woods despatched the Masters patrons into an uproar Thursday along with his first birdie of the match.
After 5 straight pars — he simply missed a birdie on the robust No. 5 gap when a 15-foot putt lipped out — Woods delivered a classic tee shot on the par-3 sixth.
The ball climbed up a ridge on the inexperienced and stopped 2 ft in need of the flag, leaving Woods with a tap-in to push his rating to 1-under.
Woods made a sloppy bogey on the par-5 eighth, the place a poor wedge shot and errant chip led to a 6. However he bounced again with a difficult downhiller from 8 ft to avoid wasting par at No. 9.
Woods made the flip with an even-par 36, leaving him three strokes behind early chief Joaquin Niemann.
Tiger Woods begins his twenty fourth Masters with a par on the primary. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/themasters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>#themasters</a> <a href=”https://t.co/gTva7ZznsP”>pic.twitter.com/gTva7ZznsP</a>
—@TheMasters
Yep, there was an extended strategy to go.
Nonetheless, it felt as if Woods was already a winner.
This was his first really aggressive match since a automotive wreck in February 2021 broken his proper leg so badly medical doctors instructed him that amputation was an choice.
Woods didn’t make stable contact along with his first shot: a 264-yard drive that pale behind a bunker on the fitting aspect of the green. His strategy rolled off the entrance of the inexperienced, however he sank a 10-foot putt to avoid wasting par, bringing one other big roar from the patrons.
Woods walked slowly, realizing that he confronted 4 robust days on a particularly hilly course if he manages to make the reduce.
He could not totally bend over to learn putts, forcing him to rely extra on caddie Joe LaCava to assist him choose the tough greens at Augusta Nationwide.
His profession was in jeopardy after the automotive wreck left him confined to a hospital mattress for 3 months. Woods was out of the general public eye till final November, when he posted a video of him swinging a membership with a easy message, “Making progress.”
“The sheer will and perseverance, it’s unimaginable.”<br><br>A timeline of <a href=”https://twitter.com/TigerWoods?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>@TigerWoods</a>’ exceptional return. <a href=”https://t.co/r6NnHdZdIg”>pic.twitter.com/r6NnHdZdIg</a>
—@PGATOUR
His lone match within the 508 days since he final competed was a just-for-fun occasion in December wherein he rode in a cart and was paired along with his 13-year-old son, Charlie.
Regardless of the lengthy layoff and the apparent bodily limitations with screws and rods nonetheless holding the bones in place in his proper leg, Woods stated he nonetheless thinks he can win his sixth inexperienced jacket.
The largest query is how Woods holds up over 18 holes for 4 straight days. He walked 18 holes final week — his first massive take a look at — throughout a scouting journey along with his son.
He teed off at 11:04 a.m. Thursday — half-hour not on time due to lingering showers — with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann.
“I can hit it simply positive. I haven’t got any qualms about what I can do bodily from a golf standpoint,” Woods stated Tuesday. “Strolling is the onerous half. That is usually not a straightforward stroll to start with. Now given the circumstances that my leg is in, it will get much more troublesome.
“Seventy-two holes is an extended highway and it will be a tricky problem,” he added. “And a problem that I am up for.”
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