AUGUSTA, Ga. — At 10:12 a.m. Saturday the most compelling and important series of events of the Masters’ first two rounds began to unfold.
Justin Thomas pushed a 10-foot putt right on the 17th green and pushed his idol onto TV screens all weekend. The miss left Thomas in peril of missing his first cut in eight appearances at Augusta National and moved the cut line to 3-over par, which moved Tiger Woods back into the tournament for that moment. Fifteen minutes earlier Woods, who is a five-time winner here and still the patrons’ preferred player, finished bogey-bogey to move from 1-over to 3-over for the tournament. It was his second bogey at No. 18 in two rounds.
As the rains intensified for a few minutes, Thomas pulled his approach shot just short of the gallery left of the hole, saw his chip shot snag on the tacky greens, missed his 10-footer, and was done.
