Despite racking up the worst score of his professional career this past weekend at the 2024 Masters tournament, Tiger Woods seemed to be in positive spirits about his return to the sport and vowed to enter three more major events later this year.
Woods, 48, finished the Masters tournament 16-over par, the highest he’s ever gone over throughout his decorated and legendary career.
While the career-high score kept him far away from contention this weekend, Woods still made history by making his 24th consecutive cut at the marquee tournament. (PGA tournaments are played over a series of four days, with roughly half the field cut from the tournament after the first two days if they don’t score high enough.)
The PGA Tour celebrated Woods’ record-breaking accomplishment on Friday afternoon, while the five-time Masters tournament winner told ESPN he felt he still had a “chance to win” the tournament after making the cut.
It was also Woods’ first competitive round of golf since February, when the Associated Press reported he withdrew from the Genesis Invitational due to “flu-like symptoms and dehydration.”
Woods’ magical return began to fall short by Saturday, however, and the 11-time PGA Tour Player of the Year finished the weekend 16-over the course’s 304 par. Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler took home the prized green jacket for the second time in three years.
“Coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time, it was a good fight on Thursday and Friday,” Woods told the AP. “Unfortunately (Saturday) didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to.”
Overall, Woods still called it a “good week” and said he plans to enter the PGA Championship tournament in May, as well as the U.S. Open in June and the British Open in July.
“I’m just going to keep lifting, keep the motor going, keep the body moving, keep getting stronger, keep progressing,” Woods said, per the outlet. “Hopefully the practice sessions will keep getting longer.”
Woods’ career in recent years has been marred by injuries which have routinely forced him to withdraw from tournaments, including last year’s Masters tournament. The World Golf Hall of Famer’s career appeared to be on a miraculous resurgence when he won the 2019 Masters tournament, the fifth time in his career.
But a 2021 car crash left Woods with serious injuries to his right leg – injuries he told reporters recently that he continues to battle to this day.
“I hurt every day,” Woods told reporters last week ahead of the Masters tournament, according to CBS Sports, predicting the weather would likely impact his performance. “I ache. No, I ache every day. And I prefer it warm and humid and hot. And I know we’re going to get some thunderstorms. So, at least it will be hot. It won’t be like last year.”
Source People.com
