Tiger Woods ‘back in the ball game’ after rocky start, makes cut after Day 2 of Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods will be around for the weekend in his return to Augusta National Golf Club.

Woods, who is playing in his first tournament since he was seriously injured in a car wreck in February 2021, fought his way through early struggles and windy conditions to card a 2-over 74 in the second round on Friday. He is 1 over and tied for 19th after 36 holes.

“It was windy. It was swirling,” said Woods, who is 9 shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler after two rounds. “Balls were oscillating on the greens. We got a couple of bad gusts. I hit a couple of bad shots. I hit a decent shot at 4 that ended up and down in a divot. It was just like there were so many things that were not going my way. It was partly the conditions and partly me.”

After a difficult start, in which Woods bogeyed four of his first five holes, he told his caddie, Joe LaCava, “Hey, we got a lot of holes to play. It’s going to be tough all day, so let’s get it back to even par for the day somehow.”

“I thought that would have been a pretty good comeback,” Woods said. “I didn’t quite get there.”

It was another wild ride for the 15-time major champion. Woods had six bogeys — the first time he had that many at the Masters since the second round in 2007 — and four birdies. He has made the cut in each of his past 22 starts at the Masters, the third-longest streak by any player in the tournament’s history.

After struggling to hit fairways in the first round, Woods hit 10 of 14 on Friday. He hit 9 of 18 greens in regulation, but didn’t scramble or putt as well as he did on Thursday.

“I got back in the ball game,” Woods said. “I’m four shots back of second, that’s the thing. But Scottie is running away with it right now. [Saturday] is going to be tough. It’s going to be windy. It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be the Masters that I think the Masters committee has been looking forward to for a number of years. We haven’t had it like this.”

Conditions were…