AUGUSTA, Ga. — There was once a time when seeing the name Tiger Woods on the leaderboard at Augusta National meant everyone else was playing for second. It’s not quite the same now that he hasn’t won a major championship in 11 years.
But for a while Thursday afternoon, it felt like old times when Woods buried a long-curling putt on the 14th hole to share the lead in the opening round of the 83rd Masters.
As the 25-footer for birdie rolled in, the roars that rattled the Georgia pines were deafening. And though he has already won four green jackets, it’s clear there are plenty of people rooting for Woods to claim a fifth. He made a bogey at the difficult par-4 17th to drop to 2-under for the day, but his opening-round 70 kept him within striking distance and provided a good omen.
“I feel like I played well today,” Woods said. “I controlled my golf ball all day. I’ve shot this number and won four coats, so hopefully I can do it again.”
Actually, Woods won his first three Masters after shooting 70 in the opening round in 1997, 2001 and 2002. He shot 74 in the opening round when he won in 2005. What also is consistent in his wins at Augusta National is a brilliant second round, which Woods will need Friday to stay close to leaders Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who are at 6-under.
Woods managed a 66 in the second round in ’97 to move from fourth to first; another 66 in 2001 to go from 15th to second and a 66 in 2005 to go from 33rd to third. But Woods has stumbled in the second round in recent years, posting a worse score in five of his last seven opportunities.
“I feel like my body’s good and my game’s good,” Woods said, adding, “We still have a long way to go. I tee off late [Friday] and the wind is supposed to be up. So I have my work cut out for me the rest of the week, and so does everyone else.”
Woods survived by making few mistakes. He drove the ball decently landing in nine of 14 fairways and reached 11-of-18 greens in regulation. He needed 28 putts during his round and escaped with just two bogeys. He made a 3-footer for birdie on the ninth hole to get to 1-under and added a tap in for birdie at the par-5 13th before his long birdie at the 14th.
“I did all the things I needed to do to post a good number,” Woods said. “I drove it well, hit some good iron shots and [my] speed was good on the greens. It’s not a bad start.”
When Woods shot 70 in the opening round and won here, he wasn’t playing against Koepka, who has won three majors over the last two years, or DeChambeau, whose unique approach seems to be reinventing the game. At age 43, Woods faces a tough challenge to keep up with the 20-something players who grew up watching him win here.
“There’s a [62]-year-old up there on that board,” Woods said referring to two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, who finished at 1-under. “He knows how to play this golf course. So it’s a matter of missing the golf ball in the correct spots and picking your spots and when to be aggressive.”
The last time Woods was under par in the opening round of the Masters was 2013, when he also shot 70. But he followed that with a 73 that dropped him to 19th heading into the weekend, when he fashioned a pair of 70s to finish tied for fourth behind winner Adam Scott.
Tiger Woods on the leaderboard in the opening round of the Masters may not intimidate the field the way it once did. But that could change if he’s still close and wearing red on Sunday.