Tiger Woods admitted he was in “constant” pain as he struggled to an opening 74 in the first round of the 87th Masters.
Making his 25th appearance at Augusta National, Woods carded five bogeys and three birdies to finish two over par, nine shots adrift of playing partner Viktor Hovland and world number three Jon Rahm.
The 47-year-old continues to be troubled by the severe leg injuries he suffered in a car accident in Los Angeles in February 2021 and looked understandably rusty in just his fifth competitive round of the year.
Woods told reporters his leg felt “sore” after the round and when asked if it was worse on some shots than others, replied: “It’s constant.”
With the weather forecast to deteriorate from Friday afternoon onwards, Woods faces an uphill task to avoid missing the cut in the Masters for the first time as a professional.
“Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it,” he said.
“Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it.
“This is going to be an interesting finish to the tournament with the weather coming in. If I can just kind of hang in there, maybe kind of inch my way back, hopefully it will be positive towards the end.”
