Tiger Woods hit some speed bumps early in his opening round at the Masters, but he charged back with a vengeance on the back nine. The highlight, without a doubt, was his other-worldly escape from the trees on the par-4 14th hole.
Woods had just made a two-putt birdie to move to two under when he arrived at Augusta’s 14th tee. But after spraying his drive into the left trees, it looked like Tiger’s new-found momentum would be short-lived.
Instead, Tiger pulled off his shot of the tournament thus far.
His wayward tee shot left him in a grove of trees 137 yards from the pin. Thanks to numerous hanging tree branches, and the location of the green on the left side of the hole, Tiger’s view was almost completely obstructed.
After surveying his punch-out options, Woods decided to forgo the save approach, and instead try to go over the trees and reach the green.
And somehow, some way, it worked. Tiger’s wedge shot rocketed straight up in the air, sailed towards the hole and landed softly on the putting green, 25 feet from the cup. Check out the incredible escape shot below.
Tiger Woods goes OVER the trees and on to the green from the second cut at the 14th hole. https://t.co/rpU5KDKc6b pic.twitter.com/SuMkRqghi5
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 11, 2019
It was the type of heroic escape the world was used to seeing from peak Tiger Woods in the early- to mid-2000s. But Tiger wasn’t done yet. Trailing the early leaders by one stroke, Tiger drained the curling 25-footer for his second straight birdie.
.@TigerWoods escapes from the trees on No. 14 and converts his 25-foot birdie putt to claim a share of the lead. pic.twitter.com/ub6VGCYxNI
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2019
Tiger’s approach shot from the trees was impressive enough on its own. The fact that he made birdie from his sorry angle in the trees is astounding.
The back-to-back birdies moved Woods into a tie for the lead at the Masters. Unfortunately for the four-time Masters champ, a bogey at the par-4 17th left him one stroke behind the early opening round leaders at Augusta National.
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