Masters 2023 live blog: A recap of Tiger Woods’ first round at Augusta National

The 2023 Masters finally begins on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club, and 15-time major champ Tiger Woods is in the field. Woods tees off at 10:18 a.m. ET alongside Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele. You can follow along here as we track his entire round.

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Tiger Woods live blog: Follow Woods’ opening round of the Masters

(All times ET; refresh page for updates)

3:24 p.m. – Tiger drains the bogey putt to sign for an opening round of 2-over 74.

3:20 p.m. – Tiger goes for it on his attempt for par out of the bunker, and misses with a bit too much pace, leaving him a sort of lengthy comebacker for bogey.

3:18 p.m. – Super difficult lie on the approach for Tiger, and he ends up in the front right bunker.

3:03 p.m. – No fireworks to speak of on 17. Tap-in par for Tiger.

2:47 p.m. – Some nice momentum flowing now. Center-cut off the tee on 17 for TW.

2:45 p.m. – BOOM! That’s two in a row for Tiger, who’s now clawed his way back to 1 over. That putt was a 10-footer, moving left to right. Awesome!

2:37 p.m. – Another nice look on 16 for Tiger — about 6 feet left for birdie.

2:33 p.m. – A birdie at long last for T. Woods! He’s now 2 over with three holes remaining.

2:16 p.m. – Tiger finds the fairway on No. 15.

2:10 p.m. – Great save for par by Hovland. Tiger hits an excellent chip to set up a shortie for par.

2:06 p.m. – Tiger ends up just short of the green. Looks like a pretty straight-forward up and down. Forgot to mention that Hovland is not 7 under after a birdie on 13, but he just had a rare mis-step, pulling his approach way left of the green on 14.

1:59 p.m. – Tiger’s drive on 14 finds the pine straw left.

1:55 p.m. – Tiger hits a decent recovery and gives himself a chance with an approach that hits the green. But the putt never had a chance, missing left of the hole. Another par. Still 3 over.

1:40 p.m. – Up next: the newly-lengthened 13th. Tiger’s drive ends up in the right rough. The lie will be way above his feet.

1:36 p.m. – Xander claims the lone birdie of the group, draining his putt to reach three under on the day.

1:32 p.m. – A great roll from Tiger sets up a tap-in par.

1:28 p.m. – Here we are at the famous par-3 12th. Tiger finds the green left of the flag, but he’ll have a long putt for birdie.

1:25 p.m. – A solid up-and-down from the bunker saves Tiger from double. He’s now 3 over on the day.

1:23 p.m. – Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland drains his birdie putt to get to 6 under on the day — three clear of the field. (!!)

1:20 p.m. – Oh no. Tiger’s flop finds the bunker. Now he’s really in damage-control mode.

1:12 p.m. – Woods is first to hit from the fairway on 11, iron in hand. He hit his drive 317 yards. And yikes — he misses the green, gets a huge bounce, setting up what looks to be a super-flop to recover.

1:02 p.m. – Ah, didn’t quite hit it hard enough. Tap-in par.

12:55 p.m. – A great approach from the Big Cat sets up a nice look at birdie on the 10th. Let’s goooooo.

12:43 p.m. – Nice chip to five feet. You can tell he’s been here before by how he backed it up on the slope. Walked this one in. That’s a 38 on the first nine to start his Masters but good momentum after the birdie on 8 and the save here at 9. Vik made a really nice birdie and he goes out in 31.

12:36 p.m. – Hits the fairway on 9, but the ball was wayyyyyy below his feet. Kind of an awakard swing that sends the ball just off the right side of the green. Not a bad miss considering short would roll 60 yards back on this hole.

12:24 p.m. – Goes for the draw for the first time on 8 and hits a good one off the bunker. Takes a mighty lash with the 3-wood from 280-plus and somehow ends up left of the green. And from there we have a our first Tiger highlight! Hits a perfect pitch that just rolls out to tap-in range. Birdie and we’re back to two-over.

12:04 p.m. – Whoaaa! Didn’t leave that one short. Hits the uphiller five feet by. Hits the high corner and spins out again on the par effort. Morale is low. We head to the par 5 8th at three-over.

11:56 a.m. – Good tee shot down the left side. Good approach that looked like it was going to be 12 feet hole-high right, but it catches a slope and stops 23 feet away. Tiger will get a read from Hovy, though.

11:46 a.m. – Short! Again! Tap-in par at 6 but the flatstick is colder than the weekend forecast right now.

11:41 a.m. – Beautiful swing on 6. Stares it down and yells, “Easy!” Ball lands pin high and just hangs on to the back edge of green, 13 feet from the cup.

11:36 a.m. – Left another approach putt short and hit the par putt from six-feet too hard. Catches high lip and spins out. Another bogey and we’re two-over through five.

11:26 a.m. – Looked like the first stinger of the day off 5 tee and it was a saucey little 3-wood cut in the center of the fairway. Left him way back at 214 though. Finds the green with his second, but he’ll have a difficult 51-footer up and over the large mound in the front of this green.

11:16 a.m. – Not quite enough break on the big bender. Tap-in range this time and we take a tap-in anytime at 4. On to the brutal 5th.

11:10 a.m. – Tees moved way up at 4, just an 8-iron for Tiger here and hits a solid approach, just past hole-high, 30 feet left. Xander hit a beauty to three feet.

10:07 a.m. – First bit of adversity here for Woods and… gives the putt way too much break and it slides by. First bogey of the week after a perfect drive. One-over through 3.

11:04 a.m. – Yikes! Not a good pitch there from the GOAT. Didn’t even carry the green from 47 yards. Left him an even tougher third which he hit to 8 feet.

10:56 a.m. – Ripped a driver on 3. Two-of-three fairways early on for Tiger. Has a flip wedge left.

10:52 a.m. – Another 4-foot save for par after a really tough first putt. Gave Vik the read for eagle and he jarred it. On to the short-par 4 3rd.

10:46 a.m. – Wiped his tee shot right into the bunker at the par 5 2nd. After a good layup, a not-so-good third shot has him almost 40 feet for bird again. He’s got longer for his birdie try than Vik has for his eagle look after two awesome shots. The absence of the limp was short-lived.

10:32 a.m. – Left the birdie-try a little short. Cleaned it up for par. Even par through 1!

10:26 a.m. – Tiger actually drove it past both Xander and Vik, which, given he has 18 years on X and 22 on Vik, is quite impressive. His approach from 153 looked like a pretty solid flighted cut to the heart of the green. All three players stayed away from a pretty scary-looking back left pin. 37 feet for birdie at No. 1.

10:20 a.m. – The big question everyone wants to know: How’s his walking?
The first hole has a big dip before going back up to the fairway and his gait looked good walking down! No limp … yet. Who knows if it will hold up, but hitting the fairway on 1 is a huge win for Tiger.

10:18 a.m. – “Fore Please! Tiger Woods, now driving!”
Opening tee shot striped down the right center and we’re off!

10:15 a.m. – Good morning and welcome to the opening round of the 2023 Masters Tournament. If you’re looking for updates on five-time Masters winner Tiger Woods’ opening round, you’ve come to the right place. Woods gets his 25th Masters underway at 10:18 a.m. with Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele. The tail end of his round might catch the beginning of ESPN’s cable broadcast window, but he will also be part of the featured group coverage on Masters.com and ESPN Plus until then. Otherwise, you can follow along here for all your updates!

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