AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s time to add another record to Tiger Woods’ long list of achievements.
On Friday the 15-time major champion shot an even-par 72 in the second round of the 2024 Masters to walk off the golf course at 1-over for the tournament and solidify his weekend tee time.
Woods has now made 24 consecutive cuts at the Masters, the most all-time in the tournament’s illustrious history. The five-time Masters champion, in his 26th Masters appearance, was previously tied with good friend Fred Couples (1983-2007) and Gary Player (1959-1982). In true Tiger fashion, Woods said he plans on texting Couples to ‘give him a little needle’ for taking the outright record.
The only time Tiger has missed the cut at the Masters was back in 1996 when he was competing as a 20-year-old amateur. The year prior he finished T-41 as the low amateur in his Masters debut, and the following year he won by 12 shots at 18 under.
Woods looked calm and collected and in complete control of his game on Thursday, and his surgically held-together body appeared to thrive in the humid conditions following a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay earlier in the day. Play was suspended as Woods cleared Amen Corner Thursday evening, which meant he had five more holes to play Friday morning before he could start his second round.
Less than 12 hours later he looked like a different person as he labored early and often in the brisk conditions on the back half of his second nine at Augusta National on Friday morning. Woods grimaced and stretched between holes and played the final five at 2 over to sign for a first-round 1-over 73.
As the day went on and the temperatures rose, so did the pep in Tiger’s step. After a color first nine that featured a mix of birdies and bogeys between Nos. 3 and 8, Woods settled into the round and parred his way around the course until he went bogey-birdie on Nos. 14 and 15, respectively.
“I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament,’ Woods said of his second round. ‘I don’t know if they’re all going to finish today, but I’m done. I got my two rounds in. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I’ll be good to go.”
Across both rounds Woods struggled with his pace on the greens and consistently left putts short. Despite hitting 22 of 28 fairways over the opening 36 holes – tied for his most in the first two rounds since 1999 – the gusting winds proved to be quite the challenge as he found just 17 of 36 greens in regulation.
‘I was forced to get up-and-down a few times today, and I was able to do that. A lot of those chip shots I was able to get up and down because I left it in the perfect spot, and that’s understanding how to play this golf course,’ Woods explained. ‘Probably the only exception was the spot I put myself in on 14. Most of the up-and-downs I was in a perfect spot.’
Through it all, the man known for his resiliency and never-let-die attitude gutted out another top-class performance to further etch his name into Augusta National history.