Tiger Woods added a new line to his Masters résumé Saturday at Augusta National, albeit one he wishes was not part of his record. After making history by playing the weekend in a 24th consecutive Masters start, Woods faltered in Round 3 and carded a 10-over 82, the highest 18-hole score of his Masters and major championship career as a professional.
Woods, who entered the day at 1 over, stands at 11 over through 54 holes.
The 15-time major champion's prior high at Augusta National was 78, which he shot in both the third and fourth rounds of the 2022 tournament. The 82 is one stroke higher than he posted at the 2002 Open Championship, when he shot an 81, and the 10 over mark matches his highest score in to par since Tiger signed for a 10-over 80 in Round 1 of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
Saturday was only Woods' fifth round scored in the 80s across his professional career and the first time he had scored in the 80s since 2015, when he posted three such rounds. It was the second-worst round of his career, matching an 82 at the 2015 Phoenix Open and only behind an 85 at the 2015 Memorial Tournament.
"I was not hitting it very good or putting well," Woods said after the disastrous round. "I didn't have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day -- just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn't hit it. And I missed a lot of putts -- easy, makable putts. I missed a lot of them."
Woods' day began in routine fashion with three straight pars. The first hiccup came when he needed three putts on the par-3 4th, but he immediately bounced back on the difficult par-4 5th when he became the first player of the day to make birdie on the hole. Woods' birdie was just his seventh on No. 5 in his Masters career, his fewest of any hole at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods makes a lengthy birdie putt on No. 5. #themasters pic.twitter.com/bm3zw6cllK
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2024
That was more or less Woods' last bright spot of the afternoon as the dropped shots started to come in a deluge.
A poor bogey on No. 6 was followed by back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8. When he failed to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker on the 9th, Woods walked off the green with the highest score of his Masters career across either the first or second nine, a 6-over 42.
Tiger appeared to regroup himself around the turn and knocked one stiff on the long par-4 10th but failed to convert. A third up-and-down on No. 11 soon came before he offset a bogey on 12 with a birdie on 13 to traverse through Amen Corner in an even-par fashion.
Whatever momentum that was supposed to come with his second birdie of the day never materialized. Woods hitched a ride on the bogey train from the 14th to the 17th thanks to a combination of inaccurate driving and poor iron play. A par on the last was a consolation prize, at best, as the damage was already done for the five-time champion.
As for anyone wondering whether Tiger is considering a withdrawal, he assured that he will be back at Augusta National on Sunday.
"My team will get me ready," he said. "... It will be a long night and a long warmup session, but we'll be ready."
