Tiger Woods followed his first victory in 28 months with some of the worst tee shots of his career, struggling to a level-par 72 after the opening round of the 76th Masters yesterday.
Snap-hooking drives into the pine trees at Augusta National with alarming regularity, Woods stunningly salvaged pars onthe first two holes only to suffer a bogey-bogey finish to plunge off the leaderboard.
"I hit some of the worst golf shots I have ever hit out there," Woods said. "I just grinded my way around the course, stayed patient, whatever it took. I just wanted to keep going out there."
The 14-time major champion, chasing the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, seeks a fifth Masters title and 73rd US PGA crown in his first event since ending a win drought that started with his infamous sex scandal.
"I could have probably maybe got one, maybe two more [shots] out of that but that was about it," Woods said. "I squeezed a lot out of that round. Didn't hit it very good at all."
