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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods will not win his sixth Masters green jacket this week.
Woods will have to be satisfied with the week marking the remarkable completion of his greatest comeback ever from the many physical ailments that have set him back in his career.
He teased everyone with his 1-under 71 in Thursday’s opening round that had him in contention.
One day after he clawed his way back from a horrible beginning to his second round to rally to 1-over for the tournament, Woods posted a third-round 6-over 78 on Saturday to stand at 7-over for the week.
We can officially say he’s out of it now.
At the time Woods walked off the course on a cold, blustery day at Augusta National, he was 16 shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler, who was still only halfway through his third round.
No matter, though: This week was a success for Woods the moment he stepped to the first tee on Thursday morning to begin the tournament — fewer than 14 months removed from the serious one-car crash he was in outside of Los Angeles in February 2021.
Woods had last competed in a PGA Tour event at the 2020 Masters, some 17 months ago.
“I fight each and every day,’’ Woods said. “Each and every day is a challenge. Each and every day presents its own different challenges for all of us. I wake up and start the fight all over again. Never give up. Always chase after your dreams.’’
Woods never got his third round going Saturday, carding a bogey on the first hole, though he birdied No. 2 to get that stroke back.
But Woods’ round began to go sideways on the par-4 fifth hole, where he four-putted — the first time in the 24 Masters in which he’s played.
For the day, Woods had a shocking four three-putts to go with that four-putt.
“I mean, it’s just like I hit a thousand putts out there on the greens today,’’ Woods said. “I didn’t think I hit it all that bad, but I had absolutely zero feel on the greens and it showed. Obviously, it’s affected the score. You take those away and I have normal two putts, I made even-par for the day.
“I did what I needed to do ball striking-wise, but I did absolutely the exact opposite on the greens. I just could not get a feel for getting comfortable with the ball — posture, feel, my right hand, my release, I just couldn’t find it. [I was] trying different things, trying to find it, trying to get something, taking practice strokes and just trying to feel the swing and the putter head, trying to get anything, and nothing seemed to work.
“Even as many putts as I had, you’d think I’d have figured it out somewhere along the line, but it just didn’t happen.’’
Woods’ day ended with a sloppy double bogey on the 18th hole, where he would have his fourth and final three-putt of the round.
After he’d piped his tee shot to the middle of the fairway, Woods’ approach shot sailed into the gallery to the left of the green and left him short-sided with a tricky downhill chip.
He bunted the chip into the hill but it kept rolling and rolling down the hill, leaving him a long putt for par. He didn’t make the par putt or the bogey putt.
“It’s been hard,’’ Woods said of his physical struggle. “Today was a challenge with the conditions. The conditions were tough. They were tough [Friday] starting out, but at least we got a little bit of a lull at the end.
“[Saturday] it’s just been blustery all day. You add in the temperature difference, it was cold starting out. The ball wasn’t going very far. I thought it was tough. Some of the other guys may not say that, but for me I had a tough time. I felt like I didn’t really hit it that bad, but I had four three-putts and a four-putt.’’
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