Tiger Woods insists he can win a sixth green jacket and 16th major title, despite detailing the pain he faces on the vast majority of shots at Augusta National.
Woods has played fewer than five-and-a-half competitive rounds since undergoing ankle surgery in April last year after withdrawing from the Masters during the third round.
The 48-year-old returned to action in the Hero World Challenge in December and completed all 72 holes, but was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness after six holes of the second round.
Woods had also suffered a back spasm which led to a dreaded shank on the 18th hole in round one, but stuck to his tried and tested answer when asked what he thought he could achieve this week.
“If everything comes together, I think I can get one more,” Woods said, adding with a smile: “Do I need to describe that any more than that, or are we good?”
Yet that question and answer came just minutes after Woods had candidly described the issues that the litany of injuries he has suffered over the years – including almost losing his right leg following a car accident in 2021 – cause him on anything but a perfectly flat lie.
“Every shot that’s not on a tee box is a challenge,” Woods conceded.
“The ankle doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s fused. It’s not going anywhere. So that’s fine. It’s other parts of my body that now have to take the brunt of it.
“The back, the knee, other parts of the body have to take the load of it and just the endurance capability of walking a long time and being on my feet for a long time (is an issue).
“Things just flare up. The training that we have to do at home, it changes from a day-to-day basis. Some days I just feel really good and other days not so much. I hurt every day.
“I thought that, when I was at Hero, once a month would be a really nice rhythm. Hasn’t worked out that way. But now we have major championships every month from here through July so now the once a month hopefully kicks in.”
While writing Woods off has proved a dangerous game in the past, making a 24th-consecutive cut at Augusta National, having equalled the record shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples last year, appears a far more achievable goal than winning.
“I think it’s consistency, it’s longevity and it’s an understanding of how to play this golf course,” Woods said of that potential landmark.
“That’s one of the reasons why you see players that are in their 50s and 60s make cuts here, or it’s players in their late 40s have runs at winning the event, just the understanding of how to play it.
“Now, you still have to go out and execute it, but there’s a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding how to play it. And, granted, every tee box has been changed since the first time I played. Every green has been changed.
“But the overall configuration of how they roll and how they move and the angles you take, that hasn’t changed.
“That’s the neat thing about this. I can still go through the mental Rolodex and bring out a few putts from the ’90s that still move generally in that direction and the effect that Rae’s Creek has on certain shots and putts. And it means a lot.”
Woods, who will partner Jason Day and Max Homa in the first two rounds, said he remained in discussions about becoming Ryder Cup captain in 2025 and also reiterated his view that Rory McIlroy would definitely win the Masters at some point to complete the career grand slam.
“No question, he’ll do it at some point,” Woods said. “Rory’s too talented, too good. He’s going to be playing this event for a very long time. He’ll get it done. It’s just a matter of when.
“I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day and it could be this week. The way he plays the game and the golf course fits his eye, it’s just a matter of time.”
PGA Championship: Morikawa and Schauffele share lead ahead of final round
Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele are joint leaders at the PGA Championship, with a host of contenders still in with a chance of triumphing going into the final round.
Schauffele crucially recovered from a double-bogey on 15 to birdie his last two holes on Saturday. That meant he finished on 15 under, carding a second successive 68.
Morikawa went one better with a four-under 67, so sits in a share of the lead in pursuit of his third major title, having recovered impressively from a bogey on two to produce a blemish-free round from there.
Sahith Theegala is only one behind the leaders at Valhalla Golf Club, while Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland are only two off the lead.
Lowry stormed into contention as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round in Kentucky.
The Irishman carded nine birdies and no bogeys to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.
Lowry had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches on 18, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.
It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.
Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose are also in striking distance, as they sit three shots off the pace after producing impressive rounds of 66 and 64 respectively.
Rory McIlroy, though, is seven shots behind Morikawa and Schauffele at eight under, level with Jordan Spieth.
And, after a tumultuous week, world number one Scottie Scheffler looks to have slipped out of contention after posting a two-over 73. He is on seven under in a tie for 24th position.
As for Schauffele, he has had 12 top-10 finishes at majors, including two second-place and two third-place finishes. He has lead since round one and will now look to finish the job on Sunday.
"Felt like I've had to work for a lot of my birdies the last two days," he said after round three.
"Haven't been able to make many putts. I feel like I'm still hitting the ball. Feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty nice.
"If I can just get the putter going a little bit, it should free me up."
PGA Championship: Lowry in contention with record-equalling round
Shane Lowry stormed into contention for the PGA Championship as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round at Valhalla.
Lowry carded nine birdies and no bogeys on Saturday to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.
The Irishman had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.
It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Xander Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.
Rickie Fowler had previously done it in round one of the 2023 US Open along with Schauffele, while Branden Grace was the first to do it at The Open in 2017.
"I just went out there with the hope of trying to get myself towards double digits," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought if I could get myself to 10 under today, I could give myself a chance going into tomorrow. I went out and got off to a great start, rolling putts in and felt great and just kept going. I enjoyed it. Myself and Justin Rose, we were great out there and just enjoyed every minute of it.
"It’s pretty cool to do something like this, but there is a lot more to do tomorrow."
Rose played a 64 to finish seven under on the round and moves to 12 under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy shot a three-under 68 to move to eight under par in the Championship, and reigning champion Brooks Koepka is now on four under after a 74.
Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa were among the later starters in Kentucky.
PGA Championship: Woods determined to 'keep fighting' after missing cut at Valhalla
Tiger Woods vowed he would "keep fighting" after missing the cut at this year's PGA Championship.
The four-time champion will be absent from the weekend at the second major of the season, having carded rounds of 72 and 77 in Valhalla.
Woods concluded his opening round with a bogey-bogey finish, while he hit two triple-bogeys in the first four holes of his second round - doing so multiple times in a single round at a major for the first time.
The 48-year-old, who finished seven over par and 19 strokes behind halfway leader Xander Schauffele, was making his first appearance on the PGA Tour since last month's Masters, and knows he needs to improve ahead of the US Open at Pinehurst in four weeks' time.
When asked about his next steps, the 15-time major champion responded: "Just keep fighting. Keep the pedal on, keep fighting, keep grinding, keep working hard at posting the best score that I can possibly post. That's all I can do.
"I got off to a bad start [in the second round] and the rough grabbed me at [the second hole]. I compounded the problem there at [the fourth].
"[I] just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately, the damage was done early.
"I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments. Hopefully, everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst."
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