The 88th Masters Tournament, which Tiger Woods was leading into, was delayed early on Thursday morning by rain.
Despite the delayed start, he remained focused and finished the round tied for 17th at 1-under par.
On the par-5 second hole, though, his tee ball found the Augusta National woodland to the left. There was no longer any opportunity for a right-handed golfer to attempt a shot because his ball was wedged up against the right side of the tree.
Woods’ ability to improvise has always been a strength. He demonstrated that by playing the ball back into the fairway with his left hand.
“I played lefty, hit the next one almost in a hazard, and boy, did I hit a nice pitch from over the green.” That was pleasant,” Woods remarked following the play.
Syndication: Tiger Woods, The Masters, The Tennessean
Tiger Woods walking to the 12th tee box of the Masters Katie Goodale, USA TODAY NETWORK / Katie Goodale
His approach shot airmailed the green after he placed the ball back into the fairway lefty, giving him a very difficult chip back with very little area to play.
Still, he made a stunning chip and the up-and-down par.
He would then turn in at 1-under after bogeying the par-3 fourth hole and birdieing the par-5 eighth. On 13, he would finish there after missing a short par putt.
He was then questioned about the challenging playing circumstances, which included wind gusts of up to thirty miles per hour.
The wind was blowing in all directions. One of the trickiest days I’ve ever worked on, according to Woods, was that one.
“It was difficult to predict the direction or intensity, and it kept varying everywhere. Additionally, you had to make putts on the greens since the timing was off. It was an extremely challenging day.
Seeing the 48-year-old legend navigate Augusta under such circumstances was really amazing.
On Friday, he’ll have to deal with even worse winds—gusts as high as 45 mph are predicted.
On 14, he will begin his first round at 7:50 a.m. Eastern Time.