Friday, blustery Friday
Winds wreak havoc at the Masters, but Tiger Woods' cut streak can't be stopped
Bryson DeChambeau takes moveable object relief (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Welcome to the Daily Drive recap of what was the most glorious kind of carnage day at Augusta National, where the only people miserable and uncomfortable on Friday were the players inside the ropes. How bad was it? Well, Zach Johnson stood in the middle of Amen Corner and yelled “Oh, F—— off!” at the patrons and then tried to deny it later despite pretty indisputable video/audio evidence of the moment. Then there was poor Justin Thomas, one year removed from three bogeys in the last four holes that cost him the cut and set the tone for the rest of his season, this time sitting level par and on the edge of contention with four holes to play before a double-double-bogey-double meltdown that sent him packing again. Not sure if Bones could have helped stop that, but it couldn’t have been worse. A day after Wyndham Clark quipped about LIV guys only playing 54 holes, he made seven bogeys in his last 13 holes to limit his week to 36 holes. Jordan Spieth made a 9 on 15 in the morning and Viktor Hovland missed a back-handed 6-incher on the same hole later (both are probably home by now). Open champion Brian Harman returned to the course level par in the morning with six holes to finish his first round and made a triple and three doubles coming in to shoot 47 on the back side of his 81. Dustin Johnson left town at 13-over — 33 strokes worse than his record winning score in November 2020.
Gotta love the Masters on a beautiful sunny day with wind that made Irish Open champion Shane Lowry declare it “probably the toughest two days of golf that I’ve played.”
Tiger Woods ducks and covers from a sand squall on 18 (Joel Marklund/Augusta National)
Tiger’s deep cuts
It is not the kind of record for which Tiger Woods will accept many accolades. The idea is to win the tournament, and so playing the weekend is a necessity. Even at this stage of his illustrious career, Woods is not giving in to the notion that making a 36-hole cut is any kind of goal.
But given how little he’s played this year, taking into account all the various injuries, and then throwing in the extremely difficult conditions Friday at Augusta when he had to play 23 holes, he’ll take the kudos.
“I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament.” — Tiger Woods
Woods shot level-par 72 in the second round of the Masters on a day when only one player broke 70. He ended up making the cut by five shots to set a Masters record of 24 in a row, breaking the tie he had with Gary Player and Fred Couples.
“I’ll be texting Freddie to give him the needle,’’ Woods said after his 23-hole day that began at 7:50 a.m. to conclude a first-round 73.
The quality of Tiger’s round looked better as the day wore on. The weather was sunny and comfortable but hardly warm and fuzzy. The wind blew mercilessly and it never subsided. Scores soared. It blew such a hoolie when Woods was getting up and down for par on 18 that sand was flying out of the bunkers.
Rory McIlroy shot 77 to make the cut. Justin Thomas shot 79 to miss it. Defending champ Jon Rahm rallied a little late to shoot 76 and finish 5-over. “It was a last-ditch effort at the end to try and make the cut,” he said. “Luckily I was successful in doing so.”
Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler share the lead at 6-under par (the first trio of Americans to do so at the midpoint since Tom Watson, Craig Stadler and Payne Stewart in 1985). Woods is seven back and in a tie for 22nd. That’s likely too far back to win, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
Joint leader Max Homa makes rare trip to Masters interview room (Joe Toth/Augusta National)
“It was awesome,’’ Homa said of watching and playing the first two rounds with Woods. “It really is a dream to get to play with him here. I’ve been saying, I always wanted to just watch him hit iron shots around here, and I was right up next to him. It was really cool. His short game was so good. I don’t think I can explain how good some of the chip shots he hit today were.
“He’s special. We had a really quick turnaround, and if I was feeling tired and awful, I imagine he was feeling even worse. He just understands this golf course so well, but he hits such amazing golf shots. His iron play is so good that even when he did miss the green, you could tell he had so much control.
“And on 18, we had sandblasts for 45 seconds, and I turned around five times so I didn’t get crushed in the face, and he’s standing there like a statue and then poured it right in the middle. So all the clichés you hear about him and all the old stories about how he will grind it out, it was fun to see that in person.’’
Typically, making the cut for Woods was all about how it impacts the tournament.
“I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament,” Woods said. “I don’t know if they’re all going to finish today, but I’m done. I got my two rounds in. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I’ll be good to go.”
Woods didn’t look so good to go when play began at 7:50 a.m. Friday with the resumption of the first round. Although Woods pumped a drive into the 14th fairway, but missed the green short with a wedge, failing to get up and down.
The morning conditions were cold and windy, making it more challenging. His approach to the 15th missed the green, from where he nearly holed the chip shot before missing birdie putts at 16 and 17. He found a greenside bunker at 18 and couldn’t save par, finishing the first round with a 73.
Woods was up and down across the first nine of the second round making three birdies and three bogeys in a six-hole stretch from 3 to 8. He made nice a par save at 11, missed the green in the wrong spot at 14 leading to another bogey, and then birdied 15 after hitting the green in two.
He parred the remaining three holes, including a nice up and down from 30 yards at the 18th as the wind howled its loudest.
“Yeah, I’m tired,’’ Woods, 48, said when asked about the physical challenge. “I’ve been out for a while, competing, grinding. It’s been a long 23 holes, a long day.
“But (caddie) Lance (Bennett) and I really did some good fighting today, and we've got a chance.’’
When Woods finished his round, he was eight shots back of DeChambeau in a tie for 25th place and ended up T22 just seven behind. The cut is for the top 50 players and ties and there were 60 players who made it.
“I’m right there,’’ said Woods, who gets to tee off at a civilized 12:45 p.m. Saturday. “I’m only eight back as of right now. I don’t think anyone is going to run off and hide right now, but it's really bunched. The way the ball is moving on the greens, chip shots are being blown, it’s all you want in a golf course today.’’
Jon Rahm struggled to make the cut (Chris Tulver/Augusta National)
LIV’s Legion 13 down to 8
Sergio Garcia said LIV was “coming for the green jacket,” but he won’t be the one picking it up.
Eight of LIV Golf’s 13 players in the field made the cut, but only DeChambeau (6-under) and Cameron Smith (1-under) are among the top 10 in red figures. Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, lurks at level par.
Of the last 37 Masters winners since Jack Nicklaus in 1986, 36 of them have been inside the top 10 through 36 holes (Charl Schwartzel was T12 in 2011).
Tyrrell Hatton and Brooks Koepka are 2-over, Phil Mickelson and Joaquin Niemann 4-over and Rahm is 5-over.
Garcia (+7), Bubba Watson (+10), Schwartzel (+11), Dustin Johnson (+13) and Adrian Meronk (+14) were among the 29 players to miss the cut. Maybe one of them can give their commish Greg Norman a ticket for the weekend so he doesn’t have to keep getting them off the secondary market.