Forget finish, 100th Masters round for Tiger Woods was still memorable

Getting a lesson from his 15-year-old son, Charlie, on the driving range before heading out made it something special for the watching world, as did Woods showing a bit of class as he made a point of shaking hands with the retiring CBS commentator, Verne Lundquist, and a legendary figure when it comes to this tournament as he came off the 16th green.

In between, the five-time winner found himself making golf’s ‘ride of shame’ as he was carted back to the fifth tee in a buggy to reload after deeming his initial blow as unplayable in the trees on the right. That led to a triple-bogey 7, having run up two double bogeys in that struggling effort on Saturday.

By the time he putted out on the 18th green, Woods was drookit in sweat. It was scorching for his first outing in red since ending his long association with Nike and now wearing Sun Day Red clothing. That merely added to the huge challenge the 48-year-old faces these days playing a round of golf.

“It was a good week. It was a good week all around,” said Woods, who finished last of the 60 players to make it through to the weekend on 16 over – his highest 72-hole total here – after adding to his greatness here by setting a new record of making 24 consecutive cuts at the Georgia venue, afterwards.

“I think that coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time (that had been in the Hero World Challenge, a no-cut event, in the Bahamas in December while he’d only played a total of 96 holes since withdrawing before the final round of this event 12 months ago), it was a good fight on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, yesterday it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to. Today the round that Tom [Kim, who carded eight birdies in signing for a 66 in the match behind) is playing I thought I had in my system. Unfortunately, I didn't produce it.”

Playing alongside amateur Neal Shipley, his solitary birdie in the closing circuit came at the par-5 second, where, with the tee forward, the 15-time major winner was able to knock his drive well down the hill and then easily find the heart of the green. It would have been fitting if his 100th round had delivered a first eagle there in all his visits, but it wasn’t to be.

“Well, I think that just the wind and what it was doing out here to the golf shots and the balls and putting, how difficult the course was playing,” he replied to being asked what had been the biggest challenge for him over the weekend. “It doesn't take much to get out of position here. Unfortunately, I got out of position a lot yesterday and a couple times today.”

When he returned in the Hero World Challenge after recovering from having his ankle fused, Woods spoke about how he planned to play once a month in 2024 and, though he was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles due to illness early in the second round then wasn’t seen in March, that’s exactly what he’s now intending to do. First up is next month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla before then heading to Pinehurst for the US Open in July before teeing up in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in July.

Asked how he planned to turn two good rounds into four going forward, he said: “Well, this is a golf course I knew going into it, so I'm going to do my homework going forward at Pinehurst, Valhalla and Troon, but that's kind of the game plan. It's always nice coming back here because I know the golf course, I know how to play it. I can kind of simulate shots. Granted, it's never quite the same as getting out here and doing it. Same thing, I heard there's some changes at the next couple sites. So got to get up there early and check them out.”

What will be his preparation as he bids to get ready for the next one?” Well, just keep lifting, keep the motor going, keep the body moving, keep getting stronger, keep progressing. Hopefully the practice sessions will keep getting longer.”

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about the 2025 US Ryder Cup captaincy when he turns up at Valhalla, having admitted here that he is planning to meet Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, about that possibility, with Luke Donald, of course, having already been reappointed as Europe’s skipper after last year’s win in Rome.

In his role as one of the PGA Tour’s player directors, Woods was part of a delegation that met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chief of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, in the Bahamas last month to try and advance talks about a framework agreement that was announced out of the blue last May. “I don't know if we're closer, but certainly we're headed in the right direction,” said Woods of that. “That was a very positive meeting and I think both sides came away from the meeting feeling positive.”

On a day he’ll cherish for the rest of his life, Shipley outscored Woods by two shots with an effort that contained four birdies and, at times, even made you think he was the one playing his 100th round here. “Definitely been a dream week,” admitted the 23-year-old American, the only amateur among five starters to make the cut.