Masters 2018: Tiger Woods survives the cut despite scrappy second round
Tiger Woods survived the cut on the second day of his much-anticipated Masters comeback despite a disappointing showing in which he all but ruled himself out of contention to win a fifth green jacket.
Woods made three bogeys and a double bogey in a scrappy second round as he struggled to tame the challenging Augusta conditions.
The 42-year-old was forced to take a penalty drop in the greenery behind the bunker, and also hit the water on the par-three 12th for the second consecutive day.
“I need a lot of help but I also need to go and do my job,” Woods said. “I need to hit low and see what the weather brings but I am so far back now that I am not in control of my own destiny.
“I am so thankful to have this opportunity. Six months ago I did not know if I could play golf again. Here we are at the weekend at the Masters and it feels pretty good, even though I am a few shots back.”
Elsewhere, Sergio Garcia, last year’s champion who so spectacularly destroyed his title defence with a first-round 13 on the 15th hole, moved even further away from the cut on another day to forget at the course where he enjoyed his greatest triumph.
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Starting the day on nine-over, Garcia finished with six bogeys and a double bogey to fall to the foot of the leaderboard, where only the amateurs Matt Parziale and Harry Ellis had endured a worse two days. Ellis, the Englishman, finished 22 shots over par.
Another former champion, Danny Willett, also found himself without a place this weekend after two consecutive bogeys on the final two holes moved him to seven-over-par, two shots beyond the cut line of five-over. “We had a lot of decent shots out there,” Willett said. “I just hit one bad one and got really, really screwed. It’s a bummer.”
Among the other survivors were Ian Poulter, who said his breathless exploits over the last few weeks had left him “fatigued” as he produced an erratic round.
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Poulter’s group, which included former champion Trevor Immelman and American Patrick Cantlay, was twice put on the clock during a second round which ended with the Englishman five shots over par.
Poulter said he was not affected by the time pressures, but added that he has felt under-prepared over the past few days after qualifying for the tournament in dramatic circumstances last week.
The 42-year-old only secured his place at this year’s Masters thanks to a remarkable play-off victory at last week’s Houston Open. He had mistakenly been told that he had qualified for the tournament the previous week, when he reached the last eight of the World Golf Championships Match Play.
“I was always going to be fatigued,” he said. “I am never going to be fresh coming into this week. I am underprepared. I didn’t get many holes in.”
Phil Mickelson, the three-time Masters champion, will also feature in the third round despite a horrific set of holes that have surely cost him any real hope of becoming the tournament’s oldest ever champion. The three-time Masters winner shot triple bogey on the par-four ninth after he became lost in the trees, while he also found the water on the 12th.
