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AUGUSTA:
Tiger Woods saw his dream of a record-tying sixth Masters victory collapse in Saturday’s third round of the Masters after the worst nine holes of his career in 99 rounds at Augusta National.
A day after setting a record by making the cut in his 24th consecutive Masters, the 48-year-old legend struggled and showed signs of his difficulty walking rounds since suffering severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash.
Woods had declared himself in with a chance of taking a sixth green jacket to match the record of Jack Nicklaus after 36 holes.
“I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament,” Woods said Friday. “I’m only eight back.”
Five-time Masters champion Woods had rounds of one-over 73 and par 72 to stand on one-over 145 for 36 holes and had just made a birdie at the fifth following a bogey at the par-3 fourth when disaster struck.
Woods finished Saturday’s front nine bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey, bogey for a front-nine 42, his worst nine-hole score on either the inward or outward halves of the famed layout.
The 15-time major winner went over the green at the par-3 sixth then missed a five-foot par putt and made bogey.
At the par-4 seventh, Woods smacked his tee shots into trees to the right, then blasted his second into woods on the left side of the hole and sent his third into a greenside bunker before pitching out and missing an 18-foot bogey putt.
It was his first double-bogey of the week, but only a sign of the trouble to come.
Woods then came to the par-5 eighth, the easiest hole of the week at Augusta National that had never inflicted a double-bogey on any player even in Friday’s swirling winds.
Woods pulled his tee shot into trees left of the fairway, then blasted out to the short grass. He needed two more from there to reach the green and then missed both a 26-foot par putt and a four-footer for bogey.
Battling his form, Woods found a greenside bunker at the ninth, pitched out to nine feet but then missed his par putt for another bogey.
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