Tiger Woods struggles with putter en route to worst-ever score at Augusta National

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A day after fighting to remain on the fringe of contention, Tiger Woods’ chances of an improbable Masters victory were ended by his putting struggles Saturday at Augusta National.

Woods used his putter three times on six different holes and also had the second four-putt of his Masters career en route to a 6-over 78. He sits at 7-over 223 as Scottie Scheffler continues to impress at Augusta National. The 78, which included 36 putts, is his worst score ever at Augusta National. The 36 putts are tied for the second-most in a single round in his PGA TOUR career.

“It was cold starting out. The ball wasn’t going very far. I thought it was tough. Some of the other guys may not say that, but for me I had a tough time. I felt like I didn’t really hit it hit it that bad,” Woods said. “I hit 1,000 putts out there on the greens today and it obviously affected that score. … I did what I needed to do ball-striking wise, but I did the exact opposite on the greens.”

Woods started the day nine strokes behind Scheffler but was only four shots back of second place after making four birdies in his final 10 holes Friday to salvage a 74 on a day when he made bogey on four of the first five holes.

Woods’ high number of putts also resulted from his inability to get the ball close to the hole. He three-putted the first hole from 50 feet, then four-putted on the fifth hole from similarly long distance. His first four-putt at Augusta National came during his victory in 2005, after he putted into the water on the 13th hole (he hit three putts and took a penalty stroke; the number of putts to complete a hole is counted as the number of strokes to hole out once a player has reached the green). Woods also three-putted his final three holes, playing them in 4 over.

“I just couldn’t find it,” he said. “Nothing seemed to work.”