Tiger Woods said he needs "to go out there and handle my business" as the five-time Masters champion recovered from a dreadful start to his second round.
It is a surprise that Woods is competing this week, and while a fairytale tournament victory looks beyond him – with world number one Scottie Scheffler leading the chasing pack by five shots on eight under – he is pleased to have at least secured his place for the weekend's action at Augusta.
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Woods was champion at the Masters most recently in 2019, when he ended a run of 11 years without a major title.
However, his second round on Friday got off to a woeful start as he bogeyed four of his first five holes, with his comeback threatening to turn sour as he flirted with the projected cut score of four over par.
Ready for the weekend. #themasters pic.twitter.com/asLLGvNC5U
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2022
Woods soon turned things around, though, and despite two more bogeys on 11 and 12 he followed up with two birdies and four pars to finish with a round of 74 and on one over par overall, meaning he kept up his 100 per cent record of making the cut at Augusta.
The 46-year-old has now made the weekend on 22 occasions at the Masters, which is the only major in which he has always made the cut as a professional. He has secured a top-five finish in 12 of those previous 21 appearances.
Five-time Masters champion Woods conceded the wind had been an issue early on, saying: "It was blustery. It was windy. It was swirling all over the place.
"I hit a couple shots that I got a couple of bad gusts and also made a couple of bad swings on top of that. Then on four, I ended up in a divot. It was just like 'okay, what else can go wrong?'"
When asked how he was feeling, Woods laughed and replied: "Well, I don't feel as good as I would like to feel. That's okay.
"As I said, I've got a chance going into the weekend. Hopefully I'll have one of those light bulb moments and turn it on in the weekend and get it done. You've seen guys do it with a chance going into the back nine. If you are within five or six going into the back nine, anything can happen.
"I need to get myself there. That's the key. I need to get myself there.
"Tomorrow will be a big day. It's going to be cool. It's going to be tough. Again, the wind is supposed to blow again and tough scoring conditions. I need to go out there and handle my business and get into the red and get myself a chance going into that back nine on Sunday."