Tiger Woods claims cut record for Masters after 'long day' at Augusta National

Five-time winner ‘tired’ after playing 23 holes in one day but is excited about weekend

He’s now officially a cut above in The Masters. Twelve months after claiming a share of the record with both Gary Player and Fred Couples for the most consecutive cuts at Augusta National, Tiger Woods now holds it on his own. Overcoming having to play 25 holes in one day, the 48-year-old took his tally to 24, making it to the weekend on this occasion after two of the toughest days he’s faced in his glittering career here.

Woods had to shield his face as sand blew across the exposed 18th green at the Georgia venue in the middle of the afternoon before knocking in a five-foot par putt for a level-par 72. Having dropped two shots in the five holes he’d been left to complete in his opening round earlier in the day to sign for a 73 and be on the back foot as he headed out again just 45 minutes later, it was another tale to tell his grandchildren from this tournament. “Yeah, I'm tired,” admitted Woods. “I've been out for a while, competing, grinding. It's been a long day. But Lance (Bennett, his new caddie) and I really did some good fighting today, and we've got a chance.”

Max Homa, one of his playing partners, followed an opening 67 with a 71 to sit on six under at the halfway stage but Woods isn’t fazed by having to do some chasing here. In the last 20 years, he’s the only player to have claimed a Green Jacket after being outside the top ten following the first round and did it twice.

Tiger Woods reacts on the 18th green during the second round of the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

“It means I have a chance going into the weekend,” added Woods, who mixed three birdies with three bogeys on an up-and-down front nine in the second circuit before offsetting a bogey at the 14th with a bounceback birdie at the 15th on the journey home. “I'm here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I'll be good to go.”

The greatest player of the modern era provided a taste of what was to come, of course, in this event when winning his first Green Jacket by 12 shots in 1997 before adding back-to-back victories in 2001 and 2002 then another one in 2005 and, of course, a 2019 triumph that saw him pull off one of the greatest comebacks in sport after undergoing all sorts of surgeries and even admitting that he feared his career here may have been over before the latter success.

Ever the optimist, Woods came into this week talking about how he believed that “if everything comes together, I think I can get one more (Green Jacket)” and, though it remains to be seen if that’s a realistic possibility either in this edition or others going forward, his latest record-breaking feat here should certainly be applauded. Woods had only played 96 holes since this event last year yet made it to the weekend, unlike fellow Green Jacket owners Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson. Oh, and Open champion Brian Harman, too.

“I've always loved playing here,” said Woods. “I've been able to play here since I was 19-years-old. It's one of the honours I don't take lightly, being able to compete. The years I have missed, I wish I was able to play because there's such an aura and mystique about playing this golf course that unless you have played and competed here, you probably don't really appreciate.”

Max Homa reacts on the eighth green during the second round at Augusta National Golf Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Homa, the man who plays at North Berwick during the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, was “proud” of his course management over the opening two days, which saw both Dane Nicolai Hojgaard and Swede Ludvig Aberg underline their potential by sitting on four and two under respectively.

Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, who reached the halfway point on two over, wasn’t happy about pace of play. “Yeah, the lads in front (the group included 2018 winner Patrick Reed) have been so slow,” he declared. “It's pretty poor from the officials that it took 32 holes to put them on the clock. Yesterday they'd lost a hole and a half, and then they weren't any better even this morning, and then for the second round they were just brutal. Fine for them; they're not waiting on any shot that they hit. But for us, we stood in the fairway, we stood on the tee. It was really hard to get a rhythm, so it was disappointing that it took 32 holes for an official to go, oh, we've put the group in front on the clock.”

Shane Lowry spoke about a “tough two days” after signing for a second-round 74 to sit on three over. “Yeah, the wind is just blowing. I can't imagine what it was doing to poor Akshay [Bhatia, one of his playing partners]. It was blowing me around the place. He nearly got blown away.”

The Irishman, who tied for third here two years ago, was “proud” to combat the conditions to cover the last six holes in one under. “The hardest part out there is to hole putts,” added Lowry. “I've got ten feet down the hill on 18, one of the easiest putts you can get. I said to Darren [Reynolds, his caddie], I've hit it this putt. I know what this putt does. It never moves as much as you think. I still couldn't manage to hit a good putt and hole it. It's just hard.”

Bhatia, the last man into the 89-player field after winning the Valero Texas Open in a play-off last weekend, was also three over for 36 holes. “It's been a crazy week or so,” admitted the 22-year-old left-hander, another of those talented left-handers.

Couples, the 1992 winner, described his 39th appearance as “really ugly” as a new back injury left him struggling to scores of 80 and 76. “Yesterday there were several times I should have not played,” he admitted. “But I thought I could help these guys that I was playing with a little bit even though they're out-driving me by 50 yards with the wind, so I didn't want to quit.”

Will he be back? “I'm planning on being healthy and making the cut and telling Fred [Ridley, the Augusta National chairman] I'm coming back the next year, too,” insisted the 64-year-old. As for this appearance, he admitted: “It was really, I don't want to say no fun because it's Augusta, but swinging was a chore.”