Tiger Woods withdraws due to injuries at a cold, cruel Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. ― As Brooks Koepka sought to resurrect his career on Easter Sunday, Tiger Woods’ latest attempt at the same might have ended.

To no one’s surprise, facing more than 27 holes of cold, wet, hilly golf, Woods withdrew from the Masters on Sunday morning due to his ongoing injury issues; specifically, his plantar fasciitis. It is the second major he’s had to quit since his near-fatal 2021 car crash. He left last year’s PGA Championship after the third round last May.

The conditions were going to be heavenly for scoring on Sunday for the healthy players, but rather hellish for a man who begins every round in pain and ends it in agony. These sorts of conditions make everything worse.

It might be the last time we ever see him play a round of competitive golf.

Woods tied a record when he made his 23rd consecutive cut on the number in a delayed, restarted second round at the Masters on a cold, rainy, windy morning. The weather deteriorated as the day progressed, and so did both his game and his health. By the time he’d gone 6-over through seven holes in the afternoon, Woods could barely put weight on his reconstructed right leg. He’d bogeyed his final two holes of Round 2, so he was 8-over in his final nine holes. His limp was as painful to watch as his game.

He tweeted his gratitude to the fans and the tournament and said he was ”disappointed“ to have to quit.

Mercifully, weather forced another suspension at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. Woods, having missed the green on his eighth hole, seemed relieved. When he limped off the grounds it felt like he was limping into retirement, or something like it.

As his 47-year-old body continues to disintegrate, Woods has stated that he would play only the four majors and, presumably, the two tournaments he hosts. As he considers his future, and as he considers his family — he delights in the emerging golf game of his son, Charlie — it’s fair to wonder if seeing him play on those select weeks is asking too much.

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Justin Thomas bogeyed No. 17 in Round 2 to let Woods, and 3-over, back into the tournament. Thomas then pulled his approach shot just short of the gallery left of the 18th hole, saw his chip shot snag on the tacky greens, missed his 10-footer, and was done.

Rory McIlroy’s Masters nightmare continued, too. He shot a 77 on Friday, missed the cut, and continued the torment that has haunted him since his final-round meltdown in 2011 when he blew a four-shot Sunday lead and shot 80. At least he didn’t have to play in bad weather.

Woods and Thomas were among the 39 players chased off the course by weather at 4:22 p.m. Friday after three trees nearly crushed fans next to the 17th tee. Play resumed at 8 a.m. Saturday in utterly miserable conditions: 48 degrees and rainy. Play paused again at 3:15 p.m. and resumed at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

After he finished his second round, knowing he stood just outside the cut line, Woods said, “I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds.”

His wish was granted, at least. He tied Fred Couples and Gary Player with 23 consecutive made cuts at the Masters. Woods has never missed the cut here as a professional.

Couples also made the cut, for the first time since 2018. At the age of 63, he broke the record Bernhard Langer set in 2020 by four months.

“I am excited to make the cut. That’s why I come here,” Couples said. “Now I can screw around and play 36 holes for fun. I can’t compete with Viktor Hovland or Jon Rahm or anybody, but I can compete with myself, and that’s really why I come.”

He didn’t care much about taking the record from Langer, who has dominated the Champions Tour on which they both regularly play. Langer is 65, and he missed the cut by two strokes. Said Couples:

“He’ll probably make the cut next year.”

Charismatic amateur Sam Bennett began the third round in third place at 8-under, one shot shy of Ken Venturi’s amateur record after two rounds set in 1956. Bennett, from Texas A&M, qualified by winning the U.S. Amateur in August, because he was still an amateur. Barely.

Last year, Bennett could have turned pro and joined the Korn Ferry Tour. Instead, in April, he announced his plans to return to College Station, and, 357 days later, he’d shot back-to-back 68s and stood at 8-under par, and, like a thoroughbred, he’s got the scent of the finish line in his nostrils.

“I know that my good golf is good enough,” he said.

His story is even better.

A native of tiny Madisonville, Texas, Bennett stayed near home for college to be closer to his father, Mark, who was battling Alzheimer’s. On June 12, 2020, Mark told Sam, “Don’t wait to do something.” Sam, rattled, asked his mother, Stacy, to help his father to write those words on a napkin. She did. The disease had compromised Mark’s motor skills, so Mark scrawled it, but signed it “Pops,” and dated it. Sam kept the note.

After his father died in 2021, Sam had the words tattooed on his left forearm.

His mother, Stacy, and nearly 20 supporters stood outside the Augusta National clubhouse after Sam’s second 4-under score, delighted that Bennett was so close to winning but not a bit surprised.

Said Stacy: “I think it’s destiny.”

Maybe not.

Bennett bogeyed his first two holes Saturday but remained alone in third place at 6-under. No amateur has ever won the Masters, but he could become the fourth to finish second. He trailed Rahm by three shots.

“The bogeys on 1 and 2 weren’t because of nerves. They were simply just bad swings,” Bennett said Saturday, seemingly resigned that victory was no longer likely: “I’m just going to try to have fun.”

Former fan favorite Phil Mickelson last year ruined his reputation with unsavory comments about LIV Golf and the Saudi government. He then still took $200 million to be the marquee representative of the Maverick tour, where he has played abysmally.

He skipped last year’s Masters in the disruptive aftermath of his comments. This year, he didn’t show up at Augusta National on Monday. On Tuesday, he looked skinny, pale, and depressed after his practice round. He reportedly didn’t speak to anyone at the Champions Dinner that night. A three-time winner, he refused to sit for a press conference all week.

Then he finished 1-under Thursday, 4-under Friday, and, 42 holes into the tournament Saturday, Lefty sat at 6-under, tied for fourth.

He was at 4-under again when play stopped, but he was playing his best golf in months. Is Augusta National some therapeutic elixir?

“I would use the word more spiritual,” he said Friday, “because, if you love golf, when you come here, it’s more of a spiritual experience.”

Yep. Phil’s back.

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