AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods waited 19 months to defend his Masters title. On Thursday, he had to wait three more hours thanks to a weather delay that hit not long after play began in the first round at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods’ defense of his Masters title will begin at 10:55 a.m., exactly 3 hours after his original tee time.
With a few people around him instead of the thousands that usually pack this place and watch and roar his every move, Woods looked a lot like the guy he was in April 2019 and not at all like the one he’s been since golf returned from its COVID-19 hiatus.
Woods, who hasn’t finished higher than T-37 in the six events he has played since the sport came back from break, opened with 68. It was the first time since the 2009 PGA Championship that Woods has gone bogey-free in a major, a stretch of 105 rounds. It’s the first time he’s ever gone bogey-free to open the Masters.
“There was really nothing, looking back on it, that I could have done better,” Woods said.
Here’s how it happened:
No. 10: Par 4, 495 yards
Tiger Woods with an atrocious second shot into the 10th hole from the middle of the fairway — might have been a mud ball — to begin his Masters title defense. But he hits a brilliant pitch to a tricky front pin and salvages an opening par. At No. 10, you’ll take par any way you can get it.
Score: Par
Total for the day: Even
No. 11: Par 4, 505 yards
Tiger Woods recovers from wide drive at the 11th with a great second shot that leads to an easy par. Now onto the 12th, where you can bet all the money in your pocket he will be aiming for the center of the green.
Score: Par
Total for the day: Even
No. 12: Par 3, 155 yards
Tiger Woods makes a par at the 12th. He has navigated those three difficult holes out of the gate with three straight pars. That’s all he wanted.
Score: Par
Total for the day: Even
No. 13: Par 5, 510 yards
Tiger Woods flirts with trouble at the par-5 13th, but his second shot sneaks over the tributary of Rae’s Creek that sits in front of the green. Two putts later, he walks away with his first birdie of the 2020 Masters.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 1 under
No. 14: Par 4, 440 yards
Tiger Woods with an all-world two-putt par at the 14th. He went across the entirety of the green to leave himself a kick-in. Now, another par 5, which means attack time.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 under
No. 15: Par 5, 530 yards
He probably had to work harder than he would have liked, but Tiger Woods rolls in a birdie at the par-5 15th. His round is still young, but this is exactly how he would have drawn it up before his day began. Make pars early, take advantage of the par 5s, avoid dumb mistakes.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 2 under
No. 16: Par 3, 170 yards
The last time Tiger Woods played the 16th hole in competition, in last year’s final round with Michael Phelps in the gallery right behind him, he nearly had an ace. On Thursday, he almost knocked it again. He has less than a foot for another birdie to move to 3 under on his round.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 3 under
No. 17: Par 4, 440 yards
Tiger Woods narrowly misses a third consecutive birdie when his putt at 17 comes up two revolutions from tumbling into the hole. He muttered to himself as he went to tap in the par, knowing that was a good chance for another one.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 3 under
No. 18: Par 4, 465 yards
Tiger Woods came out with a plan in this first round and has executed it flawlessly over his first nine. Six pars and three birdies to open with 3-under 33. And he’s even smiling, so, yeah, he’s happy about how it’s going so far.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 3 under
No. 1: Par 4, 445 yards
It only took 10 holes for the first Tiger Woods fist pump of the Masters. He rolls in a 25-footer for birdie at the 1st hole, his 10th of the day, to move to 4 under on the round. And it’s the first time today you just imagine what this place would have sounded like with patrons after that one went in.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 2: Par 5, 575 yards
It wasn’t a bogey, but it’ll feel like one. After a 350-yard drive at the par 5 second hole, Tiger Woods fails to make birdie after a loose second shot. Again, it’s par, but after that tee ball, you’re thinking birdie — or better.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 3: Par 4, 350 yards
There are a lot ways to play Augusta National. Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm let it rip at the third hole; Tiger Woods hit iron off the tee. Woods settles for par after his uphill 20-footer burns the edge. Still not a blemish on the card, but his arch enemy (No. 5) is lurking.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 4: Par 3, 240 yards
Tiger Woods with a pinpoint 7-iron at the fourth hole. He doesn’t make the 15-footer for birdie, but he still looks in control of his swing and game. And even though the last two putts haven’t dropped, he appears way more comfortable with that club than he has since golf returned in June.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 5: Par 4, 495 yards
For the first time since Augusta National lengthened the fifth hole, Tiger Woods has made a par in the Masters. He went 0-for-4 last year during his victory, making bogey each and every day.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 6: Par 3, 180 yards
Another great iron shot from Tiger Woods at the par 3 sixth hole. Couldn’t convert the putt, but he’s got to be happy with a steady diet of 15-footers for birdie.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 7: Par 4, 450 yards
One of the few misses of the day for Tiger Woods, whose approach spins 60 feet away from the hole at the seventh. But, again, his speed was perfect on the lag putt and gets away with another par.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 8: Par 5, 570 yards
First appearance of angry Tiger. After a good drive and solid layup at the par-5 eighth hole, he hits a terrible wedge into the green and resists to the urge to throw a club. Instead of a good look at birdie, he has to settle for a two-putt par from 40 feet. That’s two pars on the first-nine par 5s that will not sit well with him.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4 under
No. 9: Par 4, 460 yards
Tiger Woods closed with a par to shoot 68 to begin his Masters title defense. It’s the first time he’s gone bogey-free in a major since the start of the 2009 PGA Championship, a stretch of 105 rounds.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 4-under 68