The 47-year-old American did not tee off on Sunday despite only being able to play seven holes of the third round the previous day as the competition was delayed due to inclement weather.
The five-time winner of the Masters should therefore have played 29 holes on Sunday to end the tournament, when he had no chance of doing well, being 22 strokes behind the leader, his compatriot Brooks Koepka, when he retired.
Woods had struggled to make the cut Saturday morning in wet and cold conditions. We had seen him limp at times. However, he broke a record on this occasion by being the third to pass the cut for the 23rd time in a row at the Masters, like Fred Couples and Gary Player.
He then completely missed his start of the third round, finishing the day at 9 over par and in last position of the players still in contention.
The man with 15 Grand Slam tournaments, winner at the Masters for the last time in 2019, had a terrible car accident in February 2021 in California, from which he came out with multiple fractures in his right leg.
He had made an unexpected return to the greens at the Masters last year and, despite the pain, had gritted his teeth to go to the end of the 72 holes.
© 2023 AFP
