Golf megastar Tiger Woods can write off the “Augusta Miracle” dream of his Masters comeback. The five-time tournament winner played his extremely troubled third round on the demanding National Golf Course on Saturday six strokes over par and failed to even come close to keeping pace with the sovereign leading world number one Scottie Scheffler (both USA).
18 strokes was Woods’ deficit at +7 that night at the clubhouse before his final 18 holes on Sunday. Scheffler, who started much later, improved on the first half of the course with four birdies and only one bogey to -11.
14 months ago, Woods nearly lost his right leg as a result of a serious car accident. “I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. For the Masters in Augusta in the far east of Georgia, he still decided to win his sixth triumph – he said he felt in the right shape for it. Little of that was seen on Saturday.
On his second lap on Friday, the 46-year-old was still struggling with strong winds. On Saturday, wearing a white sweater, he opened Tea Olive again with a bogey, which he immediately made up for on the left-handed second dogleg hole (par 5).
On the par 4 hole “Magnolia”, where Woods bogeyed on Saturday, he even needed six strokes this time – four of them putts. Bogeys followed on the nine and in his actually at least slightly better second half on the 11, the 16 and the 17. The double bogey at the end then fitted into the picture. Woods last won the Masters in 2019, back then with severe back pain.
The German veteran Bernhard Langer failed at the cut after two rounds this year.