TIGER WOODS is a Masters record-breaker yet again, after showing all his fighting spirit to make the cut for a record 24th time in a row.
And he insisted no-one should write off his chances of putting this achievement in the shade by matching Jack Nicklaus’ record of six Masters victories.
Woods, who battled through a SANDSTORM on the 18th, said: “Anyone who makes the cut here has a chance, and I’m right there.
"I’ve given myself the right to be involved in what happens next, and I have a chance to win the golf tournament.
“I don’t think anyone is going to run off with this tournament. It’s all pretty bunched below the top few guys, and there’s a heck of a lot of golf left to be played.
“As for the cut record, it means a lot, because it is a testament to consistency.
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"To do this year after year, through injuries and everything else, is pretty difficult.”
Woods, 48, came here tied with big mate Fred Couples and Gary Player on 23 consecutive cuts at Augusta.
In the end, it wasn’t even close. At one over par, after rounds of 73-72, the 15 time-time Major champion was comfortably inside the safety line.
And he showed he can ‘gut it out’ physically after playing 23 holes on day two - only two less than he has played competitively in the rest of 2024!
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Asked about his chances of winning a sixth Masters title before this one began, Woods, 48, replied: “If everything comes together, I think I can get one more.”
It may not be this one, despite his bullish reaction to easing into the final 36 holes.
But with Woods you can never say never. And this performance underlined that fact.
His level par second round - with the wind gusting at close to 40mph, and blowing sand from the bunkers into the players’ faces - was a masterclass in patience and course management.
He added: “I’ve got to admit, I'm tired. I've been out for a while, competing, grinding.
"It's been a long day, 23 holes, but I got my two rounds done and I gutted it out.
“It was tough. The way the ball is moving on the greens, chip shots are being blown, it's all you want in a golf course today.
To do this year after year, through injuries and everything else, is pretty difficult.
Tiger Woods
“But I’ve got one more thing I need to do before I get some rest, and some food and caffeine - I need to text Freddy and give him a little needle about the cut record!”
Woods did not need to tell anyone how tough it was at Augusta. A quick look at the scorecards of fellow Major winners Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth would have done the trick.
Open champion Brian Harman plummeted from being top dog at Hoylake to the other end of the leaderboard, after an horrendous triple bogey-double-double finish to his opening round.
And it turned into a double disaster, as Ryder Cup team-mate Jordan Spieth became the first player to take a NINE or worse at the same hole twice in the last twenty years.
They were both nine over after 36 holes, and among gthe first to pack their bags.
Spieth's latest meltdown at the par five 15th sent him crashing to a seven over par 79, the 2015 champion’s worst round at Augusta by three shots
Spieth arrived with high hopes of claiming a second green jacket, especially after posting five more top four finishes since his breakthrough victory.
In 2015 he became only the second 21 year old to win at Augusta - after Woods.
But at 30, he has become a player who can be brilliant one minute, and toe-curlingly awful the next.
The three time Major winner twice airmailed the 15th green, and put two balls in the water as he ran up ANOTHER quadruple bogey nine. Spieth shot the same number in the opening round here in 2017.
That was just a year after he let a second green jacket slip through his fingers with a triple bogey sixth at the 12th, where he sent another couple of balls to a watery grave.
At least his misery was not long and drawn out. The same could not be said for Harman's opening 81.
The little left-hander, playing in his first Major championship since he romped to a six shot victory at Royal Liverpool, looked shell-shocked as it all unravelled at Augusta.
Harman, nicknamed the ‘Butcher of Hoylake’ after revealing his love of hunting - and cutting up and freezing his prey himself - was like a lamb to the slaughter here.
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He was two under par after nine holes, and covered the front half in 34 strokes - only to take FORTY SEVEN to complete the back nine.
It was the worst nine hole score by any player under fifty for 15 years.
