Wounded Tiger Woods has the grit but can no longer compete with the game's best

Tiger Woods revealed he is in “constant pain” after struggling to a two-over 74 that makes his first missed cut as a pro at The Masters a grim possibility. His forlorn task was put into yet more of a stark focus by the excellence of his two young playing partners who showed the limping 47-year-old the mountain he must somehow negotiate if he is ever to return to competing with the elite.

Woods displayed all his customary grit to recover after a dreadful start that saw him three-over after seven holes. He covered the last 11 holes in one-under and avoided humiliation, but his effort in benign conditions still left him nine behind Viktor Hovland and six behind Xander Schauffele, the two other members in the grouping.

Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka joined Hovland at the top of the leaderboard with their own 65s - and with Cameron Young and Jason Day on five-under, and defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry alongside Schauffele, Woods’s challenge could, at the most generous, be described as highly unlikely

Woods’ bogey on the last was painful both on his scorecard and to the right leg he so nearly lost in a car crash two years ago. His drive on the par four was just above the bunker, forcing him to take a stance in which one leg was in the sand and the other outside.

Woods played a low, slinging hook, but as it headed towards the greenside bunker, he swivelled around and hopped up and down. He was fortunate in one sense.

“Hopping on the left leg is fine. If I did it on the other one, not so fine. That leg is sore,” he said. “Today was the opportune time to get the round under par. Most of the guys are going low today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through.”

His pluck must be admired, but it is a sad reality for the many admirers of the 15-time major winner that the ambition is to make the cut. Woods did so last year, continuing his run of being present for the final two rounds that goes back to his professional debut in 1997 when he stunned the world by winning by 12 shots.

Of course, it is nonsensical to compare this wounded figure with that free-swinging, epoch-defining 21-year-old. Never mind the shrivelled limb, he has undergone multiple back operations, including the spinal fusion of 2017. And there is rust to go with the ruin. The stiffness and agony preclude him from playing anything like a full schedule.

This is just his second event in eight months, since last July’s 150th Open Championship at his beloved St Andrews where he cried when missing the cut. Superman in plus fours could not even compete with all those disadvantages.

So the question must be, why does he bother? He says he “loves being back with the guys” and there will be financial considerations, but from a health perspective it cannot be pleasurable. When asked if the pain only comes when playing a shot, he replied: "It’s constant." It was a humbling moment on a day which for Woods was sadly packed full of them.

Perhaps he will remind himself of the previous occasion he shot a 74 on Thursday. That was back in 2005 and he followed it with 65-66-71 to don the fourth of his five green jackets. The trouble is even that incarnation of Woods seems a stranger. Woods is now 16-over for his last four rounds at Augusta.

Put in that perspective, Hovland’s form verged on the cruel. This was the first time the 25-year-old Norwegian had played alongside Woods and he confessed to having a rush of anxiety when he found out. “My heart went a little bit further up in the throat and my heart rate started going up,” he said. “After that, I calmed myself down. You've just got to embrace it. You can't be scared or anything like that. If you want to win this tournament, you can't be scared about playing with Tiger.”

Hovland’s shirt was garish - a flowery concoction that put the azalea to shame - but his scorecard was so neat with an eagle on the second, five birdies and no bogeys. In contrast, Rahm’s was startling. He hit it to 30 feet on the first but proceeded to play hockey around the hole.

When quizzed about what happened, he used the famous line of his countryman and inspiration, Severiano Ballesteros. “I miss the putt, I miss the putt, I miss the putt, I make the putt,” he said. A six for starters, Rahm played the remaining 17 holes in 59 strokes. He hit every fairway and missed only one green and that was on the seventh where he chipped in. Playstation golf.

Koepka hooked his drive on the 13th into the creek on his way to a bogey six, but he bounced with three birdies in the last four holes to join the pacesetters. Out of the 18 LIV players in the field, Koepka is the best-placed, with Open champion Cam Smith on two-under. Koepka, the four-time major winner, is fit again and has that look in his eye once. On a quality leaderboard, his storyline stands out.

Alas, Rory McIlroy suffered another slow start in the major he needs to complete the career grand slam. The Northern Irishman’s 72 means he requires a low second round on Friday morning if he does not want a depressingly familiar game of implausible catch up on the weekend.