Tiger’s Saturday Struggles at Augusta National

The story of Saturday morning at the Masters was Tiger Woods, who restarted his second round in cold, damp weather, battling the cut line. Woods entered the week with 22 consecutive made cuts at Augusta, just one shy of Fred Couples and Gary Player’s record. Starting on the 12th hole, Woods seemed to need to play the final seven holes at even par. Since his numerous surgeries and accidents, cold weather has been his arch-nemesis; a fused back and heavily hardwared leg haven’t fared well in cold and damp conditions.

From the jump, Tiger appeared up for the task, flagging his tee shot on 12 and making a birdie on 15 to get one stroke inside the cut line. After a gritty two-putt on 16, he strolled off the green near the 17th tee and slipped. It looked painful, his gait changed, and from there it was a struggle.

A wiped tee shot to the right on 17 led to a bogey, a pull-hook off the tee ensued on 18, another bogey. Those tee shots were telltale misses of someone having trouble with their lower body. At that point, it seemed that his cut streak was over, and it was sad. In my lifetime, there have been so few instances where I have seen Tiger Woods need a score on a final hole and fall short. It used to be to win tournaments; now, it’s to make cuts in majors.

But then the weather worsened, and he miraculously made the cut, adding another record to his name. This might be the last time we see Tiger Woods achieve something we’ve grown to take for granted—placing his name at the top of another list.

Going back out in that cold, damp weather in round three was a tough scene. His play was bad, and his walking was worse. Who knows if he will be back Sunday, but his Saturday will stand as another history-making moment in a career full of them.