Tiger Woods has written another glorious chapter in his historic career with a record 24th consecutive Masters appearance.
The 15-time major winner dragged his battered 48-year-old body around Augusta National for 23 holes Friday in a powerful display of physical and mental determination to earn another weekend tee time.
While Woods secured two more days of play, Cam Davis held firm to upstage his much-loved Australian compatriots and into contention during the windswept Masters.
After starting the day at 1 under par through 13 holes in his first round, Woods missed two shots to shoot a 1-over 73.
With the eye of a tiger, he then carded a par of 72s in the second round amid howling winds as the crowd capitalized on his every shot.
On a day when pars were like gold, a thunderous “tiger roar” echoed throughout the course when he chipped in for birdie from the neck of a bunker on the par-3 sixth.
Other birdies on the third, eighth and 15th holes made up for bogeys on the fourth, fifth and 14th holes, as Woods eclipsed the record he previously shared with Fred Couples and Gary Player.
The former world number one, who has only played two competitive rounds since last year’s Masters, has now made the cut at Augusta every time he has participated since winning for the first time, by a record 12 strokes, in 1997.
With 1 over left in the tournament and eight strokes behind lane leader Bryson DeChambeau at mid-round, Woods will still believe he can claim a record sixth green jacket on Sunday.
Davis backed up his initial 3-under 69 with a fierce second-round 72 on Friday to briefly capture the clubhouse lead in golf’s first major championship of the year.
The Sydney resident moved up to 5-under and within two shots of first-round leader DeChambeau at one point before making double bogey on the par-4 seventh hole.
Davis hit his drive straight into the trees, hit the fairway and then dropped his third into a bunker.
He also regretted passing the green on the par-5 13th to make his second six of the day before bouncing back with a beautiful birdie on the 15th and making an up-and-down par on the last.
As strong winds wreaked havoc on the afternoon headlines, the former Australian Open champion was sitting four shots behind American DeChambeau when he signed his scorecard.
“I feel like I’ve worked hard. I’m happy to be able to rest this afternoon,” Davis said.
“It’s a good test right now. I feel like evens are good scores.”
“There are some opportunities, if you hit good tee shots and good approaches to some of the tracks, that can help you.
“Yes, I had a couple of stumbles, but I felt like I fought well and made some good putts to keep the momentum going.”
Davis enjoyed the clubhouse lead for 95 minutes until young Dane Nicolai Hojgaard (73) overtook him at 4 under.
The great Cameron Smith remained the next best Australian at 1 under par at the start of his second round.
Playing with Woods, Jason Day was struggling to make the cut.
The day was at 3-over, where he started the round, after returning early Friday morning to complete his first match and then returning for his second round.
Continuing with par through 13 holes, he made double bogey on the 16th after hitting his ball into the water, then took another shot on the last after clipping his tee shot into the trees.
But he stood his ground to stay in the hunt, as did Min Woo Lee, who was also 3 over but only in six holes.
Adam Scott, still the only Australian Masters winner, was 5-over with two holes remaining and desperately needed a birdie to have any hope of securing a weekend starting spot. However, he bogeyed 18 to finish 6-over.
AAP
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