Tiger Woods' Showing At Augusta Was Nothing Short Of Remarkable

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- We don't yet know how Tiger Woods' weekend in Augusta will end. But we do know this: What the greatest golfer of multiple generations did on Thursday was utterly remarkable.

In the history books, it will merely go down as a 1-under round of 71. By Tiger's standards, that's hardly a memorable day. Yet even for the greatest winner in the history of the sport, this day was a legitimate and bona fide accomplishment.

Consider that Woods was playing in his first round of competitive golf in more than 500 days.

Consider that Woods was less than 14 months removed from a near-fatal car crash and was just 387 days removed from being released from the hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair open fractures on his right tibia and fibula.

Consider that he was confined to a hospital bed for three months after returning to his home.

Consider that as recently as February, Woods said he had put in some decent work with his short game but hadn't really let it rip with long irons or tee shots.

Also consider that Woods wasn't even sure if he'd be able to play in this tournament some 24 hours before his Thursday tee time.

And consider that he's been working through this major recovery at the ripe age of 46.

It's incredible. That's a word that all too often gets used to describe the ordinary. But this performance, in the truest sense of the word, was incredible.

Woods -- who couldn't even fully crouch to read greens and looked pained to lean over to stick his tee into the pristine tee boxes -- began his round with a 10-foot tester on the first hole, which he sunk to save par. He played with both caution and conviction in holes 2-5 -- all pars -- before sticking his tee shot on the par-3 6th for his first birdie of the day.

A poor approach shot and an overly aggressive chip on the par-5 8th led to his first bogey of the day, and he looked to find further trouble with a tee shot into the pine needles on the 9th. Yet he calmly sent a shot from the pine straw off a hanging branch to the front edge of the green en route to saving par.

Woods avenged his infamous septuple-bogey on the 12th in 2020 with a safe tee shot and a professional two-putt. And though he made birdie on the par-5 13th, he displayed some obvious frustration at missing his eagle putt -- as sure a sign as ever that Woods genuinely believes he can win this tournament.

One hole later, he looked like a man wholly unconcerned with all of his surgeries when unleashing a shot that looked like it came from, well, Tiger.

That shot went for naught, as his chip was too strong, leading to a two-putt bogey to drop him back to even on the day.

He missed his birdie putt on the 15th by inches but made sure to not do the same on the next hole, when he went ahead and created a real, live Moment™ for the massive crowd that stalked him throughout the day.

Needing one last bit of excellence to keep that first-round score under par with an up-and-down on 18, Tiger made it happen.

By the numbers, Woods carded three birdies, two bogeys, and 13 pars. He hit eight of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens in regulation, averaging 1.5 putts per hole. All of that points to it being a forgettable day.

But, again, this wasn't about raw numbers, and it wasn't about scoring. It wasn't about anything at all other than Tiger proving to himself and to the rest of the world that he can still play in a major tournament with all eyes fixed firmly on his back.

That he was able to do that while staying under par and remaining in contention through his first round of competitive golf since November of 2020 is nothing short of remarkable.

Whenever Tiger Woods is involved in just about anything, it's inevitable for hyperbole and exaggeration to overtake the conversation. In this instance, though, there's just no way to overstate the magnitude of Woods' round on Thursday.

He may end up donning red on Sunday, fighting for his sixth Masters win. He may end up flaming out on Friday and missing the cut. Regardless, merely by showing up and playing a solid round of golf on Thursday, Woods has already earned one of the greatest victories of his entire career.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

In:
• The Masters
• Pro Golf
• Tiger Woods