This was a day in which Tiger Woods created unwanted history. This was a day where Scottie Scheffler – only briefly – displayed his fallibility. This was a day where the latest glimpse of golf’s exciting future was provided by Ludvig Åberg. It feels a pity that this Masters, already one for the ages, has to conclude.
Woods entered the record books on Friday after becoming the first player to successfully negotiate 24 Masters cuts in a row. True to form, the 48-year-old made bold predictions about challenging for the Green Jacket. We should probably know better by now than to fall under the Woods spell. Father Time is beaten by no man. A ragged first nine of 42 was his worst at Augusta National. It did not get much better thereafter. Woods signed for an 82, his poorest Masters round by four. Both of those 78s came in 2022; Woods’s pattern now is undoubtedly one of general decline. When taking to the podium for post-round media duties – and it is fully to his credit that he did that – Woods looked emotionally and physically spent.
