Just when you think the Tiger Woods story can’t get anymore epic, he makes the Masters cut 14 months after almost losing his leg

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods continues to amaze us.

Less than 14 months after being involved in a high-speed single-vehicle crash in Los Angeles that nearly led to his right leg being amputated, Woods made the cut at the 86th Masters in his first start since playing here in November 2020. It’s mind-blowing stuff but then again it’s Tiger. He shot a second-round 74 and sits at 1-over 145, with only 18 golfers ahead of him through 36 holes at Augusta National Golf Club.

He overcame making four bogeys in his first five holes, his worst start to a round at the famed Alister MacKenzie layout during his illustrious career.

“I could have easily kicked myself out of the tournament today,” Woods said, “but I kept myself in it.”

After shooting 1-under 71 on Thursday, Woods got off to a rocky start on a cool, mostly sunny Friday afternoon better suited for flying a kite. A westerly wind whipped through the Georgia pines causing great indecision in club selection and sent scores ballooning.

“It was blustery. It was windy. It was swirling all over the place,” Woods said. “I hit a couple shots that I got a couple of bad gusts and also made a couple of bad swings on top of that. Then on No. 4 I ended up in a divot. It was just like, OK, what else can go wrong?”

Not much considering he had missed four of the first five greens and failed to get up and down on any of them. He drove into fairway bunkers, misfired with his irons and his putter was no help as he missed several makable par putts.

But Woods never quit – he never does. He came to the course where he’s claimed five Green Jackets over the years because he thought he could win his 16th career major, and he did what he needed to do to make the cut and give himself a chance to write a fairytale ending to his latest comeback this weekend.

“I told Joey, ‘It’s tough for everybody. Let’s get back to even par for the day. Let’s finish out the day at even par somehow.’ We had a lot of holes in front of us. We have some par-fives and tough holes, but it’s tough, and hopefully it stays tough for the entire day and everyone is struggling,” Woods recounted.

Woods removed his sweater after spraying his tee shot right at the fifth hole, and from there he swung with more freedom. He made his first birdie at the par-5 eighth hole, where from just short of the green in two, Woods executed a nifty chip to tap-in range. Out in 3-over 39.

The second nine was an adventure too. It began with shades of brilliance as Woods drilled his approach from 208 yards to 3 feet to set up a birdie. Of the shot, Joaquin Niemann, who played alongside Woods in a twosome, said, “Yeah, he’s still got it.”

But then Woods got back on the bogey train, dropping strokes at Nos. 11 and 12, the latter of which he overshot the green and was lucky his ball trickled into the back bunker.

Woods righted the ship one more time, making a nice pitch-and-run to a back-left hole location at 13 for a short birdie and backing it up one hole later with an approach from 148 yards that spun back to nine feet for another birdie. Woods, who hit 10 fairways and nine greens in the second round, closed with four pars to sign for 74. He still has never missed the cut as a professional in the Masters.

Tiger Woods smiles after his shot after hitting from the no. 3 fairway during the second round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY Sports

“It was a good fight,” Woods said. “I got back in the ball game.”

By the end of the day, Woods limped noticeably, and he hung on to his putter to walk from the 18^th hole to scoring using it for support. Still, he claimed he’s had no setbacks this week, but there may be a run on ice in Augusta to get Woods’s sore body ready for the weekend. He trails 36-hole leader Scottie Scheffler by nine strokes, but as he noted he’s only four strokes out of second place.

“I don’t feel as good as I would like to feel,” Woods conceded. “That’s OK. I’ve got a chance going into the weekend. Hopefully I’ll have one of those light-bulb moments and turn it on in the weekend and get it done. You’ve seen guys do it with a chance going into the back nine. If you are within five or six going into the back nine, anything can happen. I need to get myself there. That’s the key. I need to get myself there.”

Saturday’s forecast calls for cooler conditions and the wind to create more havoc. Woods loves a challenge and having bounced back from a sluggish start on Friday, he knows what to expect.

“Tomorrow is going to be tough,” Woods said. “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.”

Woods, the fighter who willed himself back from flirting with the cutline on Friday, wouldn’t have it any other way.