By Sunday, the crowds that swarmed his opening rounds of the tournament had thinned somewhat. Woods finished 13 over, but the score seemed beside the point.
Tiger Woods had 212 yards to the fifth green on Sunday morning. Holding a long iron, he swung with appropriate velocity and rhythm. But something was amiss at contact with the ball, and in the millisecond it took for Woods to transition from downswing to follow-through, he let go of the club. It flung to the ground over his left shoulder. The shot bounced 30 yards short of its target, and Woods grimaced. His shoulders sagged. He sighed and retrieved the club from the grass and slowly limped forward heavily favoring a right leg surgically reconstructed after his car crash on Feb.23,2021. The 2022 Masters Tournament, which began with a smiling Woods thrilled to be back at Augusta National Golf Course surrounded by a supportive group of colleagues, was playing out for him in its final hours in small, humbling ways. Woods’s miscue on the fifth hole of the final round was one of many gaffes, in this case the second of three consecutive bogeys on the front nine. Ever since his startling, inspiring opening-round one-under-par 71, Woods has wilted piecemeal — betrayed by a sore right leg, a balky back bothered by chilly weather and the demands of walking and playing for seven successive days for the first time in 17 months.
