With a large part of the field still active on the greens, Woods finds himself around the Top 10, three lengths behind the provisional leader, the Australian Cameron Smith (-4).

The golfing legend, winner of fifteen Majors, hit his first ball on the legendary course at 11:05 a.m. local time (5:05 p.m. French, 3:05 p.m. GMT), half an hour later than expected due to thunderstorms at dawn, which Drizzle followed briefly, followed by bright sunshine all day.

The 46-year-old American, who left in the same group as South African Louis Oosthuizen and Chilean Joaquin Niemann (who was not born when he won his first Masters in 1997), showed no sign of weakness, both physically and in his game.

Apart from a small error on the par five of N.8 (bogey), Tiger was very solid on his front nine.

He narrowly missed a first birdie on the N.5, his ball coming out of the rim, before succeeding on the next one.

On this N.6, a par 3, Woods even went very close to a hole in one, his "tee shot" failing a few centimeters from the hole.

Clenched fist

He then passed the Amen Corner, the 11-12-13 triptych where a Masters is won and lost, even managing to birdie again on the par five of the third segment.

At N.14, it was a little more complicated: his drive went too far to the left, but he was able to get back into position very well coming out of the trees, before missing his putt, which earned him his second bogey of the day for back into par (0).

But the best was yet to come, since he made his third birdie on the par three of N.16, with a far from easy but perfectly dosed putt, and celebrated it with a clenched fist.

American golfer Tiger Woods on the green during the first round of the Augusta Masters on April 7, 2022 in Augusta, Georgia, USA JAMIE SQUIRE GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

He then ensured the par on the last two holes, finishing the rise of the N.18 with great strides without relying on his club as he sometimes did a few hectometres earlier.

An impressive performance from the champion, who has not played for more than 17 months - his last tournament was the 2020 edition of the Masters postponed to November due to Covid-19 - and is trying to win a sixth title in Augusta , to equal the record of his glorious elder Jack Nicklaus.

In a rather electric atmosphere, worthy of that of coronation Sundays, the clamor had already accompanied his appearance early in the morning.

Dressed in black, shoes, adapted to his needs and which are not from his usual equipment supplier, to the cap, through the pants and a light sweater, he ended up revealing a fuchsia pink high-neck t-shirt and a particularly muscular upper part of his body.

"A difficult path"

But it was his right leg that caught everyone's eye.

Because in Augusta where he has always crossed the cut and of which he knows every nook and cranny, the relief is his main difficulty.

American golfer Tiger Woods on the green during the first round of the Augusta Masters, in the middle of a compact crowd who came to admire him, on April 7, 2022 in Augusta, Georgia, United States JAMIE SQUIRE GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

He had narrowly avoided amputation, after his exit from the road on February 23, 2021 near Los Angeles, for the multiple open fractures which required him to insert a metal rod in the tibia, and screws to consolidate the bones of the foot. and ankle.

Woods had been hospitalized for weeks and unable to walk for months.

"It was a difficult path. Coming back to play here seemed very unlikely to me at the time," he said on Tuesday.

But the Tiger, his body already bruised by an incalculable number of injuries, has once again been able to get up, to succeed in a return that no one expected so quickly in Augusta, where his first challenge will be to go the distance over four rounds.

"I don't show up for a tournament if I don't think I can win it," he warned this week.

In view of this first round, the most scrutinized and feared 973rd in the world in history did not lie.

© 2022 AFP