The Masters: Tiger Woods feeling good after patience pays off

Tiger Woods was rewarded for his patient approach as he eased himself into contention at the halfway stage of the Masters.

The former world No 1 carded a four-under 68 in the second round to move to six under overall and within one shot of the five co-leaders.

Woods birdied both the par-threes on the front nine – the fourth and sixth – but he also recorded bogeys at the fifth and eighth.

But his round took off with a birdie at the ninth, where he holed a 37-foot birdie putt, and he then holed out from 13 feet for a birdie at the 11th.

The roars from the patrons cranked up another notch at the 14th where, after tangling with a marshal after he played his second shot from the pine straw, he holed out from 30 feet for birdie.

Woods knocked in another birdie putt from the same distance at the 15th, although he was unable to add any further gains, despite giving himself good chances at the 17th and 18th, to take a share of the lead.

“I feel like I played my own way back into the tournament,” he said.

“I was just very patient today, felt very good to be out there doing what I was doing. This is now three straight majors that I’ve been in the mix and so it’s good stuff.

“I missed a few putts out there but I’m not too bummed out about it because I hit them on my lines. So I can live with that. I can live with days when I’m hitting putts on my line and they just don’t go in, that’s the way it goes.

“But I also made some distance putts there at nine, 14, 15, those were, they were nice to make and if I keep hitting the putts on my line, they will start dropping.”

The marshal at the 14th caught Woods on the ankle as he tried to protect him from the patrons, but the 43-year-old shrugged off the incident.

“It’s all good,” he said. “Accidents happen. I’ve had galleries run over me, it’s just, you know, when you play in front of a lot of people, things happen.”

(c) Sky News 2019: The Masters: Tiger Woods feeling good after patience pays off