Tiger Woods is in the hunt at the Masters and all is right in the golf world again, but for a brief moment on Friday in the trees, his tournament nearly ended prematurely.
The Big Cat arrived at the 14th hole three back of the leaders, but a weather system arrived at Augusta National right as Woods had gotten hot, playing a bit of a role in him seeing a pair of birdie putts miss on 12 and 13 that could’ve had him even closer. Off the 14th tee, in the midst of the heaviest rain of the day, Woods hooked his tee shot into the trees and appeared stymied.
However, like Thursday, Woods saw an opening and played a miraculous iron out of the trees on 14 to give himself a birdie opportunity. The shot was unbelievable, but the most stunning part of the sequence was a security guard slipping and slide tackling Woods, clipping his right ankle, trying to cut off patrons behind him.
https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1116828328801869825
Woods would limp for a moment and shake it off, luckily not caught worse and was no worse for wear, but it was almost one of the most surreal Masters moments in history.
The security guard got Tiger with the slide! pic.twitter.com/cr8z8kqErr
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) April 12, 2019
Naturally, because he is Tiger, he buried the putt to move to 5-under for the tournament, two back of the group that leads at 7-under as he approached the par 5 15th.
On the 14th hole, Tiger Woods’ drive found the second cut. Then, a security guard made contact with Tiger’s ankle after his approach through the trees.
Woods STILL made birdie. pic.twitter.com/zjugFDbTOn
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 12, 2019
Luckily for Woods, fans, and, most of all, that security guard, the incident at the 14th can merely be a funny footnote to what could be a great round for Tiger, rather than a disastrous end to his tournament.
