Tiger Woods toils in opening round of The Masters, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland set hot pace

Tiger Woods had a tough day on his return to action at The Masters, with the five-time winner put in the shade by playing partner Viktor Hovland. Woods has pared back his schedule after suffering a serious leg injury in a car crash in 2021. Ad He made only three appearances last season as he struggled with the injury, and 2023 is set to see him make only fleeting appearances in the professional ranks.

MastersRidley 'hopeful' things might change with LIV and PGA Tours coming together9 HOURS AGO On the eve of the tournament, Woods spoke positively about how well he was hitting the ball and there was evidence of that during his opening 18 holes. But he looked well short of match sharpness, which showed when he was on and around the greens. He three-putted on the fifth and seventh to drop a shot, and he also gave one up to the card following a poor chip on the third.

McIlroy gets set for latest attempt at the 'Career Grand Slam' 'I don't know how many more I have in me' — Woods There were occasional sprinkles of stardust, notably on the 10th when he whipped his second shot around a tree after finding himself out of position. The one putt of note he made was on 15 for birdie, which sent him towards the clubhouse in a positive mood. But overall there was too much rust, and he was unfortunate to find a bad stance with his second shot on 18 and it resulted in a bogey and him signing for a two-over 74.

He walked off the 18th nine shots adrift of Hovland, who made Augusta look like a simple task. He never looked back from making a brilliant eagle on the second, and even when finding trouble — such as when short-siding himself on 10 — he produced magic around the greens. It resulted in the Norwegian carding a bogey-free round of 65