What does the great golfer have left to do after he was forced to withdraw from the Masters?

Tiger Woods at the end of the Third Day of The Masters? – The story of his experience with the tournament-key winner and his fellow golfer

Tiger Woods will not be able to play in the fourth and final round of the Masters because of a foot injury.

Woods said he was disappointed to have to go to the hospital for a second opinion on his injured foot. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”

The sound of a klaxon, which came to an end on the third day of The Masters, might have been music to the golfer’s ears.

At this point, Woods was nine-over at The Masters, dropping shots at nearly every hole in the third round to leave him bottom of the leaderboard. He had made it through the cut with a three-over score at the halfway mark.

The 15-time major winner has only played competitively once this season and in the build up to the tournament told reporters that he doesn’t play or practice much anymore.

Will he continue to put his body through tournament golf just to be an also-ran? The greats might not ever be used to being average. Not that Woods will ever just be a regular player, as the headlines his Masters withdrawal generated testify. The biggest draw in the game is still him.

Neither the conditions nor his form improved much after that. Another bogey on the 14th and double bogeys on the 15th and 16th left the 47-year-old bottom of the leaderboard with the worst score of the day.

After making the cut for the 23rd consecutive time at Augusta, he had little time to enjoy it and started his third round a few hours later.

Jon Rahm and Seve Ballesteros in the Final Four of the 88th LIV Golf Classic: What he learned from his victory at the Open Championship

After two days of miserable weather had seen multiple suspensions of play at the 87th edition of the historic major, it was fitting that blue skies and sunshine set the backdrop for the crowning of Rahm, whose victory sees him leapfrog reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler as world No. 1.

Rahm made short work of the two shot lead taken into the final round by Koepka, who slid to a frustrating three-over 75 finish. The American was in a tie for the lead at the end of the first round, but saw his hopes of a first green jacket and fifth career major fall apart quickly in the afternoon, thanks to the relentless charge of Jon Rahm.

On the birthday of late Spanish golf icon Seve Ballesteros – champion in 1980 and 1983 – The first European golfer to win the US Open and The Masters in the same year was awarded the green jacket by Rahm, making him the fourth Spaniard to do so.

“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it’s incredibly meaningful … I know he was pulling for me today.”

The oldest golfer ever to get into the top-five at a major was PhilMickelson, who had a final round best 65 to finish in fifth place. The former three-time green jacket winner was all happy as he made it to the second round.

It is the lowest round ever posted by a player 50 years or older, coming a day after Fred Couples became the oldest player to ever make the cut at a major.

Jordan had nine birdies in his final round to finish at seven-under. The 2015 champion finished level with Russell Henley and Patrick Reed, who made it three LIV Golf players inside the top four.

The chance of a defense of the title looked very unlikely when the American was eight shots adrift of the leader in the second round.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/09/golf/masters-2023-winner-jon-rahm-spt-intl/index.html

Sam Bennett had a great day in Augusta, and his fellow golfer, Koepka, had an amazing first day on the golf course

Leading amateur Sam Bennett won hearts and plaudits after a superb week at Augusta. The 23-year-old Texan – who has a tattoo of his late father’s final piece of advice inscribed on his wrist – shot 76 to finish tied for 16th on his Masters debut.

After two days of miserable conditions and stop-start action, clear blue skies finally broke above Augusta National on Sunday, prompting the green light for the race to escape a first Monday finish at the major since 1983.

A battle to beat the clock had already taken place Saturday after the weather on Friday had caused play to be suspended and left several players needing to finish their second rounds.

His relief didn’t last long. The two Americans made two bogeys at four and six, after they had sunk their first birdies of the day at the third. For the first time since the second hole on Friday, there was a new outright leader at the summit.

The ninth fairway is where the opening drive found the fairway. Yet the American recovered superbly from his wild opening hook, planting his follow-up onto the green before saving par.

To make matters worse for the LIV Golf star, those behind had gathered momentum. Though Mickelson and Spieth ultimately left their charges too late to snatch victory, Koepka’s slide jumped Mickelson – already back in the clubhouse – up into solo second.

It was fitting encapsulation of the day that when a frustrated Koepka finally converted his first birdie of the afternoon at the 13th – snapping a 22 hole streak without one – Rahm matched his effort mere seconds later.

What had looked set to be an enthralling two-horse race had turned into a canter. Up ahead, American duo Reed and Henley were running out of time to challenge, and even back-to-back birdies for Koepka at the 15th and 16th only cut the gap to three.

There was a brief scare for Rahm when he had a four shot lead into the final hole, as his tee drive went sailing towards the trees.

A phenomenal approach onto the green allowed Rahm to fully bask in a champion’s ovation from the Augusta patrons. The ball had barely hit the bottom of the cup before the putter was thrown in the air and the winner raised his arms and head to the sky.

The footage went up on social media very quickly. Tiger Woods gingerly walking towards his caddie after an approach shot, seven cautious steps in the miserable Augusta rain which told us more about the “limitations” Woods says he faces than words ever could.

He didn’t grimace – a single-minded champion like Woods wouldn’t – but plenty watching the clip would have as they saw him struggling to walk. He was trying to play the game that had been dominated by him.

We know all about Woods’ past: the 15 major titles, the 82 PGA Tour wins, the millions earned, the skill, the determination, the affairs he admitted to before the world’s media, the multiple back injuries, the surgeries, the redemptive 2019 Masters win, and the career-threatening car crash. Woods has gone from top of the world to rock bottom and back again.

His body weakened by multiple surgeries and injuries, the elements were against him. The cold and rain do not suit a man who needs an extensive warm-up routine to get his body to acquiesce to the demands of tournament golf.

Or, perhaps, the weather saved him from himself. “I hate to say this but yesterday (Saturday) at the end of this show I was just hoping that he wouldn’t make the cut, that he’d just finish one outside,” Sky Sports analyst Butch Harmon said.

We always want to watch Tiger Woods, but it wasn’t a huge surprise that he had to pull out because he was in agony trying to get around.

The schedule, too, became unkind for the former world No.1, and the undulating course was already a challenge for his right leg, held together by rods, screws, plates and pins after a serious car crash in 2021.

Woods re-visited after completing four rounds of the US Open at Augusta National with a little help from the weather

The second round was halted on Friday because of the weather and then had to be completed on Saturday morning in order to resume the third round on Sunday.

Even without an injury, it seemed like Woods should play more than 18 holes a day if the tournament was to be completed in four days.

But aged 47, the future is uncertain. He is no longer the best golfer around. He has stopped being one of the best. The truth is that he is not sure how good his current state is or how good he can still be.

Woods talked of completing four rounds at Augusta National last year as a small victory but also said he has to be careful about how much he can push it. It has been a tough road. I don’t know how many Masters I have in me.

“If you look where The Open is this year [Royal Liverpool] it’s fairly flat … US Open in LA – yes, the LA Country Club’s got some hills and stuff. The difficulty here [Augusta National] is the walk, it’s just such a tough walk for everybody and so I think it had to happen for his sake. Is it possible we will see him again? Gosh I hope so.