The Masters:Tiger Woods Was In 'continuous' Pain Throughout The Opening Round Of The Masters.

Tiger Woods revealed on Thursday that he was in "constant" agony during his first round at the Masters.

On his 25th appearance at Augusta National, the 47-year-old could be seen wincing at various moments throughout a tumultuous start, carding a two-over 74.

The five-time Masters champion finished nine strokes behind Norwegian playing partner Viktor Hovland, who returned to the clubhouse tied for the lead after a scorching seven-under opening round.

Woods noted on Tuesday that he wasn't sure if this was his final appearance in the tournament. Since suffering severe leg injuries in a horrific vehicle accident in 2021, the fifteen-time major champion's competitive outings have been intermittent.

Woods shocked many by making the cut at the 2022 Masters, but his physical problems to handle the mountainous terrain of Augusta were clear, exacerbated by surgery that had placed a rod and pins in his right leg.

One year later, he closed his opening round by hopping on his left leg following a difficult escape shot from a bunker at the 18th hole. Woods was frank when asked about the state of his leg following his round.

"I'm sore," he said to reporters.

"It's alright to hop on the left leg. If I did it on the other one, it wouldn't be that good," he continued.

Woods got off to a slow start, making three bogeys in his opening seven holes, but the five-time Masters champion responded with a birdie at the eighth.

The audience, who had been watching Woods all day, nearly erupted as he chipped in a stunning approach, only to be denied by an eagle by an inch.

A fourth bogey at the 11th hole pushed him to three over, but Woods appeared to be rounding up his round with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes. Nonetheless, after nearly missing a birdie putt to get to even-par on the penultimate hole, Woods' closing bogey added to a disappointing afternoon.

Woods has only missed the cut once in his previous 24 Augusta outings, and if he makes the weekend, he will tie Fred Couples and Gary Player for the most consecutive cuts at the major.

However, with a slew of competitors off to excellent starts, Woods will almost certainly need a solid second round to pull it off.

"I felt like I drove it well," Woods said. "I just didn't do the job I needed to do to get the ball close." "Today was the ideal time to get the ball—get the round under par—and I didn't do it."

"The majority of the guys are going low today." This was the perfect day to do it. Hopefully, I'll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and able to inch my way through it tomorrow.

"With the weather coming in, this is going to be an interesting finish to the tournament." "If I can just hang in there and maybe inch my way back, hopefully it will be positive in the end."

Woods is slated to tee off for his second round at 1:24 p.m. ET on Friday. (6:24 p.m. BST).