We’re getting 36 more holes of Tiger Woods at the Masters

Tiger Woods started his Friday on the first tee stretching out his back and then untying and re-tying his shoe laces to extend and get loose before embarking on one of the toughest walks in golf. What followed was a five-hour grind of a second round at the 2018 Masters, where Tiger ducked and jumped the cut line throughout the afternoon. Woods will get 36 more holes at Augusta National, thanks in large part to his ability to finally convert on the must-make birdie opportunities at Augusta’s par-5s.

The Woods we saw through the first two rounds at the Masters is not the same player that contended in Florida in his preceding three starts. It’s disappointing if you’re a Tiger fan, but not surprising. Woods began the week at Augusta saying this would be a different kind of test because of all the slope on each and every hole at this course. It’s one of the most incredible pieces of property you will find in golf. I’m not talking about all the perfectly manicured conditions and the flora that you see on TV. I’m talking about the natural land movement that rolls through and across all 18 holes.

“I just had to get used to the feel of playing off of a lot of uneven lies,” he said on Tuesday. “Different shot shapes I’ve been playing, and in Florida hitting the ball low all the time, now I have to bring the ball up.”

So far, we’ve seen a lot of those uneven lies come back to bite him. The biggest reason for Woods landing at 4-over through his first 36 holes is his iron play. The ballstriking has been nothing like we’ve seen in Florida. He hit two awful approach shots on the par-5s on Thursday, at both Nos. 2 and 8. Those are birdie chances, especially when you pipe a drive down the middle of the fairway as Tiger did. Instead, Tiger hit two scruffy irons and settled for pars. That story continued on Friday, when his irons repeatedly put him in less than ideal spots around these greens.

The costliest miss on approach came at the 5th hole. Tiger hit what he called a “crap shot” and rocketed one into the forest left of the green. He went hunting for his ball and eventually walked off with a double bogey.

On the second nine, Tiger dumped his tee shot in Rae’s Creek for the second straight day at the 12th. He “saved” a bogey.

Woods gave back shots to Augusta on both par-3s on the second nine, but fortunately, he finally kicked it into gear on the par-5s. The 13th and 15th are red numbers waiting to be claimed. If Tiger had continued the par train on those holes, he’d have been on his jet back to Florida Friday night. Instead, he got home in two on both holes and managed to post birdies that led to a second nine 36.

Tiger will have an early Saturday tee time and need to do something crazy on the weekend to have a shot. The weather is supposed to be brutal on Saturday, which could make things more unpredictable and create a slightly larger opening to make a move. But it’s unlikely -- the leaders usually want tougher scoring conditions to prevent a mega-low round and charge from way in the back.

“I’m going to have to shoot a special weekend and need help,” he told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi. “I’m not in control of my own destiny here, I’m so far back. I don’t know what the weather is for tomorrow but I need to shoot something in the mid-60s and hopefully do the same thing on Sunday.”

The irons will have to get back to the Florida precision from March. In February at Riviera, where he missed his only cut of this comeback, Tiger lamented the fact that he wasn’t sharp with those irons and not hitting the ball pin-high, which he called the hallmark of his career. We’ve seen more of that this week at the season’s first major.

The 4-over mark is disappointing but this past month has jumbled the expectations here. Tiger reminded us of that after the round, when he said it was just six months ago that he didn’t even know if he’d be playing again. We’re working with a sliding scale here. It is disappointing that he’s 4-over and likely out of it. But it’s also still remarkable that he’s playing the Masters again and made the cut. Now he’s got 36 more holes to see if he can find that iron game again and put on a little show without the stress of contention.