Tiger Woods’ 3rd-Round 82 at 2024 Masters Has Fans Lamenting Icon’s Leaderboard Slide
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After surprisingly making the cut at the 2024 Masters, Tiger Woods struggled mightily during Saturday’s third round, shooting a 10-over 82.
The 48-year-old veteran, who is a five-time Masters winner and 15-time major champion, entered the third round at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia, tied for 25th place at one-over, but he ended the round tied for 52nd place at 11-over.
While Woods was even for the day through five holes, he ended his front nine on a low note, playing the next four holes at six-over.
Woods’ six-over 42 was the worst front nine of his illustrious career at the Masters, and he also shot his worst Masters round as a whole on Saturday at 82, eclipsing the previous mark of 78.
Tiger has battled numerous injuries to his knees, legs, ankles and back in recent years, and it has prevented him from playing competitive golf regularly.
Woods has also struggled to get around on the course as smoothly as he once did, and many of the fans following along Saturday on X took notice of Tiger laboring physically, as well as his tumble down the leaderboard:
The highlights were few and far between for Woods on Saturday, as he finished the round with only two birdies.
After bogeying the par-three fourth, Tiger responded with a birdie on the par-four fifth, as he rolled in a long birdie putt:
Woods had only one other birdie on the day, carding a four on the par-five 13th. By comparison, he registered eight bogeys and two double-bogeys.
Although Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of all time and an all-time performer at the Masters, little was expected of him entering this year’s tournament.
He made three or fewer official PGA Tour starts in three straight years from 2020-21 through 2022-23, and his only entry this year prior to the Masters was in February at the Genesis Invitational when he withdrew in the second round due to injury.
Still, fans always have at least some hope for something magical when Woods takes the course, especially at the Masters.
Memorably, Tiger won the 2019 Masters, marking his first Masters win since 2005 and his first major tournament win of any kind since the 2008 U.S. Open.
Fans won’t get to experience a similar revelation this year, but the fact that Woods made it to the weekend at the 2024 Masters despite his health issues and his lack of tournament action in recent years is impressive nonetheless.
