Tiger Woods is in contention at the 2013 Masters, although a few missed opportunities have him a few strokes back of the leaders with two holes to play.
Masters 2013 leaderboard: Tiger Woods 2-under through 16
Tiger Woods played his way into third place, but a bogey and a missed opportunity leave him four strokes back of the leader.
Woods, who is 2-under through 16 holes, hasn’t been as sharp as he may prefer, but has managed to eliminate most setbacks. His approach shots gave him some issues early, but he managed to save pars with excellent play around the green. After five pars to open the round, Woods started to make up ground on the leaders with birdies at No. 6 and No. 7.
He continued to be steady through Amen Corner, adding a birdie on No. 13 to move into a tie for third place at 3-under. Woods’ streak of salvaging at least par came to an end on No. 14. After a solid tee shot, Woods’ approach released to the back of the green, leaving him a long birdie putt. His lag putt came up well short, leaving him an eight-foot par putt which he missed left.
After dropping to 2-under, Woods was in prime position to get a stroke back at No. 15. An excellent drive put him in position to attack the par-5 in two. His approach went long, but a solid chip set him up with a six-foot putt for birdie. Woods, however, missed the putt to the left and was forced to settle for par (hover to animate).
When he’s at his best, Woods dominates par-5s, but he didn’t fully capitalize on Thursday. He finished 2-under on the four par-5s, but missed makeable birdie putts on No. 2 and No. 15. Woods was close to having an excellent tee shot on the par-3 16th, but his ball just missed rolling over a ridge and instead spun away leaving a long birdie putt. An excellent lag putt left him with a tap in for par.
With two holes left in his first round, Woods is currently four strokes back of Marc Leishman, who is the leader in the clubhouse at 6-under.
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