AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods finished up his round on Sunday shooting a 77 and looking ahead to the other majors this season.
Woods did a tremendous amount of work in the first two rounds when conditions were tougher and did well enough to make the cut. He made his 24th straight cut to set the Masters record, but the weekend was a different story.
He shot 82 on Saturday and said nothing went right for him. Woods ends up in 60th place which is last among the golfers that make the cut.
“I think that just the wind and what it was doing out here to the golf shots and the balls and putting, how difficult the course was playing,” he said about his most difficult challenge. “It doesn’t take much to get out of position here. Unfortunately, I got out of position a lot yesterday and a couple times today.”
Woods said he has the luxury of knowing Augusta National so well, but will now shift his focus to the PGA Championship (Valhalla), the U.S. Open (Pinehurst No. 2) and the British Open (Troon).
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“I’m going to do my homework going forward at Pinehurst, Valhalla and Troon, but that’s kind of the game plan,” he said.
Zalatoris, Young tie for ninth
Will Zalatoris left Augusta National in a better frame of mind after a 3 under 69 on Sunday.
Zalatoris, a former Wake Forest star playing in his third Masters, tied for ninth. In his three Masters he has three top 10 finishes.
Zalatoris ended up finishing at even par for the tournament.
Cam Young, a teammate of his at Wake Forest, also tied for ninth after shooting 73 on Sunday.
Young was also playing in his third Masters and has now recorded two straight top 10 finishes at Augusta National.
Akshay Bhatia has busy two weeks
Akshay Bhatia, a 22-year-old playing in his first Masters, shot 73 in his final round and finished inside the top 40. Bhatia, who was raised in Wake Forest, turned pro at age 17 and has been a pro for five years.
He won the Texas Open last Sunday to earn a spot into the Masters.
“I haven’t truly understood what’s happened the last couple weeks,” he said. “Everything about (the Masters) is amazing. Volunteers, all the green jackets, they were so kind, so welcoming, so congratulating. Just the kind of feelings I had of being very important here is awesome.”
Bhatia, who is ranked 34th in the world, said it was a special week for him and his family.
“I think being my first Masters, it’s pretty cool kind of being the last person in,” he said. “All in all, it was an awesome week. Had a lot of family out there, and it was a special week for a lot of us.”
Zalatoris’ routine at Amen Corner
Will Zalatoris, who is playing in his third Masters, says he makes sure and looks around when he gets on the Hogan Bridge going to the 12th green.
Zalatoris loves the vibe around Amen Corner.
“There’s nothing better,” Zalatoris said. “(No. 12) is 150 yards of brutality. I’ve made plenty of birdies there, but I’ve made plenty of bogeys. My dad always told me, when you’re standing on the bridge on 12 to look back and take that view because it’s a view you’ll never get on TV.”
Zalatoris said it’s important to take in Augusta National when he can while he’s playing.
“It’s always special being here,” he said, “so I never take it for granted.”
Reed doesn’t think about rankings
Because Patrick Reed plays on the LIV Golf tour he can’t get points in the rankings except when he qualifies to play in the majors. He’s a former Masters champion and can get points this week.
“I don’t really think of the world ranking. I don’t think of points or anything like that,” Reed said. “Every golf tournament I play in, no matter where it is around the world, I play for a trophy. I play to go win the golf tournament. If you do that enough times during the year and win enough golf tournaments, that takes care of itself.”
Bhatia loves feel of Amen Corner
Bhatia made the cut and got to experience Amen Corner for four days with fans flocking to the busiest stretch on the course.
“It’s cool,” Bhatia said. “The amount of times I’ve watched it on TV is a lot, and to kind of actually live that in reality is pretty cool. It’s a weird kind of feeling because you get on that tee and everyone is kind of applauding. You get on that green, and you don’t hear any claps. So that’s something I never expected.”
Bhatia called Augusta National an amazing place. It was 10 years ago that he competed in the first Drive, Chip and Putt competition. He’s the first golfer to advance from that as a kid to the Masters.
“And just kind of the whole aura of the place is amazing, but (Amen Corner) is an extra special place.”
Short putts …
Among those making the cut and playing the weekend were 58-year-old Jose Maria Olazabal, 61-year-old Vijay Singh and 53-year-old Phil Mickelson. Those three have combined to play in 97 Masters. Mickelson had the best finish among the three at 8 over par....
J.T. Poston, a Wyndham Championship winner who is from Hickory and is a Western Carolina graduate, shot 70 on Sunday and finished at 5-over and inside the top 30. …
Raleigh’s Grayson Murray, a former Wake Forest and East Carolina golfer, had his best round with a 70 on Sunday. He finished at 10-over par in his first Masters.