Tiger Woods’ 88th Masters Tournament opener was cut short early Thursday morning due to rain delays.
However, despite the slow start, he remained focused and entered the clubhouse tied for 17th place with one under.
I started with 3 birdies on No. 1.
However, the tee shot on the second par-5 hit the Augusta National Forest to the left. His ball rested against the right side of the tree, denying the right-handed golfer a chance to swing.
Improvisation has always been a strength of Woods’ game. He showed it and returned the ball to the fairway left-handed.
“…[I] He hit his next ball almost in the hazard, played left-handed, got out of there and hit a great pitch from over the green. It was good,” Woods said after the play.
After he returned the ball to the left-handed fairway, his approach shot sent the green flying into the air, leaving an incredibly difficult chip that came back with little room to play.
Still, he hit some beautiful chips and made top and bottom pars.
He had a bogey on the par-3 4th hole and a birdie on the par-5 8th to finish at 1 under. He would make a short par putt on the 13th and finish there.
He was then asked about the difficult playing conditions, with wind speeds reaching more than 30 miles per hour.
“The wind was blowing all over the place. It was one of the trickiest days I’ve ever been a part of,” Woods explained.
“I had to do that because it was hard to know not just the direction of the ball, but also its strength, and the ball kept switching all over the place. The timing was affecting my putts on the green. Very It was a difficult day.”
It was very impressive to see the 48-year-old legend running around Augusta in such conditions.
They will have to contend with even stronger winds on Friday, with gusts of up to 45 mph expected.
He is scheduled to tee off on the 14th and finish the first round at 7:50 a.m. ET.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.
