Tiger Woods: Superstar Must Have Strong Second Round to Win Another Green Jacket

Tiger Woods finished the first round of the 2012 Masters with an even par score and played even better than his score indicated.

The fact that he did not shoot below par is not that uncommon of an affair for the star, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Jonathan Wall.

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In 17 previous appearances, he's managed to break only 70 once, so this is right in line with the way things have usually gone on Thursday. Plus, the way the driver was going today — he had a number of snap hooks, including one on the 18th that forced him to take a unplayable — keeping it at even par should feel like an accomplishment.

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During a television interview after the round with CBS, Tiger even admitted that he only could have shot one or two strokes better and that’s about it.

He’s going to have to ensure he plays just as well and actually earns a few more birdies on the second day of this tournament.

Woods definitely didn’t play himself out of contention yesterday, but he didn’t do enough to establish momentum going into the latter rounds and needs to use today to do exactly that.

There is no clear favorite established yet and it really is anyone’s tournament to win, especially considering there are 54 holes left to go and anything can happen to any golfer.

If Woods can make a strong run going into the weekend and finish a few strokes below par, he’ll have himself perfectly positioned to put on a fifth green jacket on Sunday night.