AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods walked off the third green at Augusta National on Saturday, having just missed a birdie putt he thought he should have made, and began striding up the hill toward the long par-3 fourth hole at the Masters.

Little did he know things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Whatever hope Woods had of staying in contention disappeared, along with his confident swing and mastery of the greens. The five-time champion spent the rest of the day struggling to his worst round at a major championship, a 10-over 82 that not only left Woods looking defeated, but will force him to play his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday well out of the spotlight.

“I didn’t have a very good warm-up session, and I kept it going all day today,” said Woods, whose worst round at the Masters had been back-to-back 78s in 2022, the last time his battered and broken body was able to play the full weekend.

Woods said he “just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.”

He started the day 1 over and seven shots off the lead, and feeling like he was capable of making a run at Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders. But that was before eight bogeys and two double bogeys, offset by just a pair of birdies, left the 48-year-old Woods near the bottom of the leaderboard rather than the top.

It was only the fifth round Woods has shot in the 80s as a professional, and only the third in a major. He shot an 80 in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and an 81 in the third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.

His worst round as a pro came in 2015, when he shot an 85 in the third round of the Memorial.

“I haven’t competed and played much,” said Woods, who arrived this week having played just 24 holes of competitive golf this year. “When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that (birdie) putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flubbed a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to flip it, I didn’t.”

After his tee shot at the seventh bounded through the fairway, Woods dumped his approach in the bunker and made double bogey. At the eighth, he drove it into the trees, punched out and made another double. And to finish off his worst first nine at the Masters, Woods again missed the fairway off the tee, again found a bunker, and again walked away with a bogey.

Woods played that four-hole stretch in 6 over.

Things didn’t get any better over the next nine, when he made six more bogeys.

At least playing partner Tyrell Hatton could commiserate. He four-putted the final hole.

“Sure, he didn’t hit it how he wanted to,” Hatton said, “but also like, putts that he had, the greens are so fast out there. You guys, you don’t realize, even a 2 1/2-foot putt is just brutal. They’ve got so much turn. You start a centimeter outside of your start line and it’s going to miss. Then, depending on the pace you’ve hit it at, who knows how far away it’s going to finish up.”

The week has been a grind for Woods, who had to play 23 holes on Friday after darkness brought an early end to his opening round. Yet he not only persevered through a marathon day, he shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that he moved up the leaderboard. The average score was 75.09, allowing him to make the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at the Masters.

RORY McILROY’S bid to complete a career Grand Slam will have to wait yet another year after the world’s second-ranked golfer failed to make a leap up the leaderboard.

McIlroy shot 71, which was solid, but not nearly enough to climb into contention.

“All I can do is come here and try my best,” McIlroy said with a shrug of his shoulders. “That’s what I do every time I show up. Some years it’s better than others. I’ve just got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing.”

The right thing has been elusive at Augusta National for the 34-year-old McIlroy, particularly this week.

He is 3-over 219 for the tournament.

The Northern Ireland phenom won the U.S. Open in 2011, the first of two PGA championships in 2012 and the British Open in 2014 to put him on the brink of joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only players to complete the modern Grand Slam.

At 25, it seemed a forgone conclusion it would happen.

McIlroy, though, is still searching for the magic formula to solve Augusta National. His only top-three result there was runner-up in 2022, when he shot a final-round 64 but still finished three shots behind Scottie Scheffler.

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