Tiger Woods faced the biggest test to date of his improbable comeback on day two of the 86th Masters at Augusta National.
In his first top-level event since almost losing his right leg following an horrific car crash last February, Woods went into Friday’s second round just four shots off the lead held by South Korea’s Sungjae Im.
And while that was undoubtedly impressive, it remained to be seen if the 46-year-old could cope with back-to-back rounds on an undulating course playing longer than ever due to the soft conditions.
“People have no idea how hard it’s been,” Woods said of his recovery. “My team does. They’ve worked with me every single day.
“To see where I’ve been, to get from there to here, it was no easy task.”
Quote of the day
This is such a cool insight, pardon the pun https://t.co/8eF4YEeX7O
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) April 7, 2022
Tiger Woods reveals his chilly recovery plans following his opening 71.
Shot of the day
Finding his rhythm at Augusta.@HV3_Golf makes eagle from the pine straw at 13. pic.twitter.com/j5hihNRsLZ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 7, 2022
Harold Varner III produced a stunning approach from the pine straw on the 13th to set up a tap-in eagle.
Worst shot of the day
Mackenzie Hughes's 3rd shot on 15 is definitely among the maddest shots you'll see this weekend
And he tipped his cappic.twitter.com/d7Ew37EsQy— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 7, 2022
Mackenzie Hughes suffered a dreaded shank on the par-five 15th.
Tweet of the day
Man it looks bad on video, but it looked way worse coming off the club. Didn’t even have time to yell fore 😂 https://t.co/S0QJ1M7SgT
— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) April 7, 2022
Hughes at least sees the funny side of his shank (above).
Round of the day
Out front at Augusta.
Sungjae Im holds a 1-stroke lead after his opening round 67. pic.twitter.com/2Ou9vyr0KU— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 7, 2022
Sungjae Im makes an ideal start in his bid to go one better than his runners-up finish in 2020.
Statistic of the day
73 today for Rory
Since his last major win (2014 PGA), he's +35 in round one of the majors and -60 in rounds 2-4.— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 7, 2022
Leading statistician Justin Ray highlights another slow start for Rory McIlroy.
Easiest hole
The par-five eighth played as the easiest hole, with 37 birdies and just five bogeys – including one from Tiger Woods – resulting in a scoring average of 4.644.
Toughest hole
The lengthened par-four 11th unsurprisingly was the hardest with a scoring average of 4.456. Only three players made birdie and there were four double bogeys and three triples.
Weather forecast
Morning sunshine, then mostly cloudy, windy and cooler. Slight chance for a brief shower.
Low: 46F High: 66F
Winds: W-SW 15-18mph, gusts of 25-30 mph
Key tee times (all BST)
1439 Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson, Sungjae Im
1757 Danny Willett, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
1841 Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Joaquin Niemann
