2022 Masters Tournament: Tiger Woods’ 71st Unforgettable Game vs. Golf Is More Awesome Than It Looks

Augusta, GA – It was a Thursday that felt like a Sunday. That’s what happens when the five-time Masters champion returns to the sport he’s eliminated over the past quarter century for the first time in 17 months.

Between his last round of competitive golf at the Masters in November 2020 and this first round of the 2022 Masters, Woods underwent another back surgery and nearly lost a leg. So, what did he do after a year and a half of vacationing to professional golf at the highest level? He went out and shot 1- Under 71 To beat the field average by three, of course.

Given Woods’ stature (the best player of all time), what he accomplished at Augusta National (five green jackets, no cutbacks in 21 attempts as a pro) and the adversities he faced (“things… I wouldn’t want anyone”), she’s 71 to go down as one of the The most famous tour in the history of the Masters.

On paper, it’s a good result in a great tournament that could lead to something even better later in the week. The paper is devoid of context, however, the pose of a man who almost needs a prosthetic leg to walk again is required in its context.

It felt like living history from the first tee shot. Thousands of patrons lined up on the first hole of the Augusta National to watch the 973rd-ranked golfer in the world make his first official shot in more than 500 days. Tiger was delivered early on with an equally long workout which speeded up the rolling show and seemed to energize someone who definitely doesn’t need more adrenaline.

After five straight seasons to start his tour, Tiger almost stared an ace in hole number 6 and moved into the red numbers for the first time in 100 weeks. A sloppy bogey in a 5 par-8 pushed him back even as he closed his first nine and walked toward the nine holes extending down the backside of the Augusta making him as famous as he made it.

Three more pars to start this side before an easy birdie at No. 13 and a bogey at No. 14 came as a result of an engine pull. Tiger hit only nine lanes that day, and his driver was often more useful to him as a walking device than as a tool for hitting the ball around Augusta National.

Tiger saved a ridiculous 5 par-5 tie after his first two shots left and more left. On Round 3 of 16 he had a great shot on the rear right rack which was better than what it likely looked like on ShotLink. As he walked toward the sixteenth green, the shepherds lining that hole stood one by one—as if making the wave from the tee to the green—to applaud him. Not for the shot he just got, but because they knew how silly he was ever getting shot after just over a year in a hospital bed.

“If I had seen what my legs looked like back to where they are now, the pictures — some guys know. They’ve seen the pictures, they’ve come home and they’ve seen it,” Woods said after his tour. “To see where I am, to see – to get from there to here, it was not an easy task.”

Tiger gave the show what they’ve come to see with perhaps the purest throw he’s hit all day, one peppered with a hand-pump for a birdie. It looked like he took the lead on a Saturday afternoon. One straight par and another miracle later, Woods hit 71 won’t receive second glances in his final date but still leaves your jaw on the floor if you watch it as it happened.

Woods looked tired as he finished his tour, which is exactly what you’d expect from a man whose body appears to be twice as large as his birth certificate saying he takes care of a short trip around an old mountain nursery. His game also looked like he hadn’t held a pen and scorecard in his hand since before Thanksgiving 2020.

There were initial, semi-loving hits with the big clubs he had to cover up and on the greens with a pair of hands that held every meaningful golf cup ever made.

It was 71 players who were less experienced and more motivated to turn 75.

“To play this golf course and do what I did today, hit the shots in the right places — I know where to hit a lot of these pins, I miss the right places and give myself good angles,” Woods said. The kicks and I ended up in the red like I am now.”

Tiger was back at the age of three to enter the club and would advance four times before the second round. He’s not likely to win this golf course because a faint obstacle in his gait on Thursday afternoon could turn into a complete limp by the end of the week. Plus, it’s evasive enough off the tee that even a short Seve Ballesteros in its prime can handle that 72-hole load.

However, with his impressive performance on Thursday, Woods proved two things.

He can get in the way and make his way to the competition in this tournament. Woods beat the man he took to Augusta National last week, Justin Thomas, by five strokes on Thursday after JT spent the first three months of the year looking like the best ball striker on the planet. Tiger can and will overcome enough of that field through 36 holes to generate an iota of hope on Saturday morning.

He has also proven something more important that he has proven seemingly every year since winning this championship 25 years ago. Woods made his way back from a hospital bed to a wheelchair to lay on his back in his stately backyard, listening to the sounds of birds chirping to prevent those creatures from coming out on Thursday as he emptied every shred of wits, stubbornness, and skill that remained in his home. body.

“[Walking the course] It couldn’t have been easier, said Woods, “Let’s put it this way. I can swing a putter. Walking isn’t easy and it’s hard. Like I said with all the hard work my legs are going to be hard for the rest of my life. That’s just the way it is, but I am able to.” Doing that. It’s something I’m very fortunate to have had this opportunity to be able to play, and not just that, to play in the Masters and have that kind of reception. I mean the place was electric.”

In executing such a masterful performance, Tiger reminded us that never before in sports had he had the will of any man to be great at one thing that was so high. His desire to perform and compete is twice that of men half his age who have not achieved 10%.

Watching Woods hide an injury that should destroy him from the inside and take out 71 would have seemed like a miracle a month ago is watching someone conquer all outside forces yell at him that they’ve done enough.

It sure would have been easier for Woods to sit at home with his family watching these Masters characters and text JT’s embarrassing GIFs after a shocking 76 on Thursday.

In appearance, he overcame a lot, but in doing so, he also chose the more difficult path. Tiger chose the path that included more suffering, more frustration, and more pain because he is obsessed with the game and bending it to his will.

Will Thursday’s 71st story tell that story 50 years from now? Impossible to say. But if you watched or watched Woods’ tour, you’ll remember it as being bigger than the day and the week. It was (another) performance of him that you will never forget.

Watch the 2022 Masters Championship live until Sunday with Masters Live As we follow the world’s best golfers around the Augusta National with featured combos, check in at the famous Amen Corner and see the leaders around the turn on holes 15 and 16. Watch live CBSSports.comThe CBS Sports App And the Paramount +.