Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I can’t wait to watch Tiger Woods’s second round. (He’s scheduled to tee off at 1:41 p.m. ET.)
If you’re reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.
This Masters is all about one man (for now)
What Tiger Woods did yesterday at Augusta is nothing short of remarkable.
After he broke his legs in a serious car crash 14 months ago, it seemed safe to assume that his golf career was effectively over. His November announcement that he was done playing a full-time schedule reinforced that, although he said he would continue to play in select events.
It wasn’t just the legs, either. When Woods struck a median, crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic and crashed into a tree in Southern California in February 2021, he was just two months removed from another back surgery.
His appearance with his son at the PNC Championship in December quelled fears that his career was over, but Woods rode in a cart at that event. If he was going to return to official Tour events, he needed to build up enough strength in his surgically repaired legs to be on his feet for four or five straight hours. And walking about five miles at the famously hilly Augusta National Golf Club seemed like an unlikely place for his comeback to begin.
Woods did limp during his first round, but he also shot 1-under par.
The round put him in a nine-way tie for 10th place, four strokes behind first-round leader Sungjae Im. Woods is still a long way from contending, but considering everything he’s been through, just completing four rounds would be an incredible achievement.
Stephanie Apstein was at Augusta and wrote about how Tiger was the center of attention, drawing by far the biggest galleries.
But he isn’t the only guy worth watching. Here are some of the other notable first-round results:
- I already mentioned the leader after 18 holes, Im, who missed the cut at last year’s Masters but finished tied for second in 2020. He opened his round with three straight birdies and finished at 5-under par. (He also shared a fun moment with his dad during the par-3 contest.)
- Cameron Smith, who won the Players Championship last month, was one stroke behind Im at 4-under.
- There was a four-way tie for third at 3-under between 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, ’16 Masters champion Danny Willett and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
- Defending champ Hideki Matsuyama shot an even-par 72.
The best of Sports Illustrated
In today’s Daily Cover, Chris Almeida explores the career of Rory McIlroy, who was once touted as the next Tiger but hasn’t won a major in eight years. He finished his first round at the Masters yesterday at 1-over-par.
Howard Megdal wrote about Kelsie Whitmore, the 23-year-old pitcher who signed with an Atlantic League team. Whitmore's signing is “the highest level attained by a woman in professional baseball in more than a generation.” ... Conor Orr writes that the claims made by Steve Wilks and Ray Horton will force the NFL to address its racist hiring practices. … Michael Pina explains why Jayson Tatum’s improved passing is key to the Celtics’ status as title contenders. … Kevin Hanson has a new NFL mock draft that reflects the big Eagles-Saints trade. … Ricardo Pepi’s six-month scoring drought is cause for concern for the USMNT, Avi Creditor writes.
Around the Sports World
Freddie Freeman says he didn’t have any “friction” with Ronald Acuña Jr., but after hearing Freeman talk about the Braves’ absurd unwritten uniform rules, it’s easy to see why they didn’t get along. … Three players were ejected after a fight between the Hornets and Magic. … The volleyball coach at Grambling State has reportedly cut all 19 players from the team. … Pirates star Ke’Bryan Hayes agreed to the biggest contract in franchise history but left Pittsburgh’s Opening Day game with an injury. … Lions coach Dan Campbell says he coached a player with the Dolphins who showed up to practice every day “just reeking of alcohol.”
The top five...
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Matthew Wolff trying to putt out of a bunker during his disastrous round at The Masters (he finished 9-over)
4. This fan at Augusta with an alarming number of empty beer cups
3. Joey Votto miked-up during the Reds-Braves game
2. The Cubs fan who freaked out after catching Nico Hoerner’s home run (the first homer of the MLB season and Hoerner’s first since 2019)
1. The story behind Phillies rookie Bryson Stott’s jersey number
SIQ
On this day in 1993, Cleveland’s Carlos Baerga became the first player in MLB history to accomplish what feat? (Hint: Mark Bellhorn and Kendrys Morales have since joined him in this exclusive club.)
Check Monday’s newsletter for the answer.
Yesterday’s SIQ: What was the nickname newspaper writers gave to the illness that kept Babe Ruth sidelined for the first two months of the 1925 season?
Answer: “The Bellyache Heard Round the World.” On April 7, 1925, the Yankees arrived in Asheville, N.C., for an exhibition game against the local minor league team, the Tourists, as they made their way back to New York from spring training in Florida. When the train pulled into the station, Ruth disembarked and collapsed on the platform. He was unconscious when he was taken to the hospital.
“RUTH, ILL WITH GRIP, COLLAPSES IN SOUTH,” a New York Times headline blared the next day, blaming Ruth’s poor health on the flu (also called “grip” in those days). Newspapers around the world began reporting that the Great Bambino was dead. The false story had apparently originated in Canada and spread to papers as far away as Scotland. Reports of his demise were quickly refuted, but the truth behind Ruth’s illness was slower to come out.
Ruth had been sick throughout spring training, and the papers came up with all sorts of explanations for his poor health, ranging from a sexually transmitted disease to eating a dozen hot dogs in one sitting. The official explanation, according to the doctors who operated on him on April 17 back in New York, was an “intestinal abscess.”
The operation kept Ruth hospitalized for seven weeks. He wasn’t released until May 27 and made his season debut on June 1. He managed to appear in 98 games and batted a respectable .290, with 25 homers, but he wasn’t quite himself.
With their top offensive weapon hampered, the Yankees limped to a 69-85-2 record. Ruth quickly regained his form, though, and two years later, in 1927, hit 60 home runs.
From the Vault: April 7, 1980
Carl Skalak/Sports Illustrated
No. 8 seed Villanova’s upset win over top-seeded Georgetown in the 1985 men’s national championship game is one of the most famous upsets in NCAA tournament history, but I hadn’t bothered to look up before how the Wildcats won.
Georgetown entered the game as a heavy favorite. After all, the Hoyas had won the 1984 national championship and returned all five starters, all of whom went on to play in the NBA (including star center Patrick Ewing), and had cruised through the ’85 tournament with relative ease.
Villanova, on the other hand, had entered the tournament at 19–10 and squeaked through to the title game by thin margins, winning five games by an average of 5.6 points. The Wildcats would need to play a perfect game if they hoped to beat Georgetown.
And that’s just what they did. How did Villanova win? By shooting a preposterous 78.6% from the field. The Wildcats shot 22-of-28 on the night, including 9-for-10 in the second half. The lone miss was a shot that was blocked by Ewing.
Curry Kirkpatrick’s game story was appropriately headlined “Shooting the Lights Out.” Villanova’s dead-eye shooting extended to the free throw line, where it made 22 of 27 shots. Georgetown, by comparison, only went to the line eight times. That kind of disparity leaps out at you in a 66–64 game.
Whether Georgetown’s lack of fouls drawn was the result of biased officiating or what Kirkpatrick described as Villanova’s “mystifying matchup zone” is up for debate. You can watch the whole game here and judge for yourself.
Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.
