Saturday 7 April 2018 15:26, UK
Tiger Woods safely made the halfway cut at the Masters but appears out of contention after carding a three-over 75 in the second round.
The 42-year-old's ninth successive over-par round in a major left him four over after 36 holes and well adrift of leader Patrick Reed.
Woods, who opened with a 73 on Thursday, was among the late starters and followed a perfect drive on the first by missing the green and making bogey to drop back to two over.
The four-time Masters winner then fired his approach into bushes over the green on the fifth to run up a double-bogey, and another bogey on the 12th saw him drop back to five over.
He recovered with birdies at the two par-fives - 13 and 15 - to pull clear of the cut mark, although a three-putt from the fringe led to a bogey at the par-three 16th, leaving him with some work still to do over the closing holes.
But Woods had no problems negotiating the 17th and 18th as he twice shaved the hole with birdie putts to secure his place in the final two rounds with a shot to spare.
Woods had no problems identifying where he needs to improve his game after completing his round.
"I didn't hit the irons very good today at all. I struggled with them," he told Sky Sports. "I felt really good with my driving and my putting, even though I didn't make anything.
"I hit a lot of beautiful putts but I didn't hit the ball very good with my irons. I didn't hit it crisp, I didn't hit it clean, I didn't hit it close, I didn't use the slopes properly, I didn't miss in all the correct spots. I had it all going with my irons today."
Woods admits he has little chance of claiming a 15th major success on Sunday, but he is not prepared to throw in the towel just yet.
"I need a lot of help but also I need to go out there and do my job," he added. "I need to shoot something in the mid-60s both days, but I'm so far back I'm not really in control of my own destiny here.
"I need to get myself back up there somehow with a low one tomorrow and we'll see what the weather holds out."
Despite being tied for 40th place, Woods accepts there are plenty of positives to take from making the cut in a major as he continues his comeback from spinal fusion surgery.
"It's incredible just to be able to play golf again," he said. "I'm just so thankful to have this opportunity again. Six months ago, I didn't know if I would be able to play golf again. I certainly didn't know if I'd ever play at Tour level again.
"But here we are, the weekend at the Masters. It's pretty good, even though I'm quite a few shots back."
