Tiger Woods admitted he had “zero feel” for the greens at Augusta National as he slumped to his worst ever score at The Masters.
Woods four-putted the fifth hole and three-putted six times in a miserable third round of 78, eclipsing his previous highest score of 77 on his debut as an amateur in 1995.
The 46-year-old at least maintained his sense of humour when asked what he struggled with, replying with a smile: “I was hitting too many putts.
“It was like practice putting. I hit 1,000 putts out there today. I just had zero feel for the greens and it showed. I did what I needed to do ball striking-wise, but I did absolutely the exact opposite on the greens.
“I just could not get a feel for getting comfortable with the ball. Posture, feel, my right hand, my release, I just couldn’t find it. With as many putts as I had you’d think I’d have figured it out somewhere along the line, but it just didn’t happen.”
Asked what his target would be in the final round in his first top-level event since suffering severe leg injuries in a car crash in February last year, Woods added: “What am I, six over?
“Maybe shoot 66 and get back to even, right where I started. Hopefully feel a little bit more limber tomorrow.”
Woods followed a three-putt on the first by almost holing a bunker shot on the par-five second for an eagle, but then four-putted the fifth as his somewhat casual bogey attempt caught the edge of the hole and horseshoed out.
The 15-time major winner also three-putted the ninth and 11th and although he birdied the 12th and 13th, he needed nine more putts to complete the final three holes.
