Woods proud of Augusta recovery | 'I've got a chance'

Tiger Woods has not given up hope of challenging for an unlikely comeback victory at The Masters after battling his way into the weekend at Augusta National.

Woods, playing his first competitive event since November 2020 after last February's career-threatening car crash, followed an opening-round 71 with a two-over 74 in windy conditions to sit nine strokes behind halfway leader Scottie Scheffler.

The 15-time major champion was left in a twoball alongside Joaquin Niemann, following Louis Oosthuizen's withdrawal through injury, with Woods looking in danger of missing the cut after bogeying four of his opening five holes on Friday afternoon.

Woods undid some of the damage with a tap-in birdie at the par-five eighth and produced a brilliant approach into the par-four tenth to pick up another shot, only to bogey his next two holes.

The 46-year-old responded again to pick up back-to-back birdies from the 13th and came close to making further inroads over his closing hole, with Woods sitting on one over and inside the top-20 going into the final two rounds.

"I don't feel as good as I would like to feel," Woods admitted. "That's okay. As I said, I've got a chance going into the weekend. Hopefully I'll have one of those lightbulb moments and turn it on in the weekend and get it done.

"You've seen guys do it with a chance going into the back nine. If you are within five or six going into the back nine, anything can happen. I need to get myself there, that's the key.

"Tomorrow will be a big day. It's going to be cool. It's going to be tough. Again, the wind is supposed to blow again and tough scoring conditions. I need to go out there and handle my business and get into the red and get myself a chance going into that back nine