Tiger Woods' Strong Start to 2013 Masters Again Hinges on Par-5 Dominance

Tiger Woods' opening round at Augusta National is in the books, and the most storied golfer of the bunch is once again in contention to win his fifth green jacket at the 2013 Masters. 

Despite the putting brilliance, big moments and otherwise incredible shots Tiger has given us over the years at this course, his ability to win really goes hand in hand with a domination of the par-five holes on the course. 

It's no surprise he's doing it again at the 2013 Masters. 

If you hadn't already seen Woods' stats from his previous Masters experiences, Paul Pabst broke down on Twitter how Tiger has both climbed back from stroke deficits and extended leads over his Masters career. Hint—it's through winning big on the longest holes of the course:

It should be no surprise that he was impressive in that regard on Thursday afternoon. 

Woods completed a two-under round of 70 on Thursday at Augusta, pairing with Luke Donald and Scott Piercy to find himself just four strokes back of leader Marc Leishman (Tiger finished at roughly 4 p.m. ET with other golfers yet to finish). 

If you take a look at his scorecard, Woods finished with three birdies and a bogey on the afternoon. After getting under par on No. 6 with a birdie, Tiger's next two birdies came on—you guessed it—No. 8 and No. 13—both par-five holes. 

It certainly isn't hard to make the argument that a successful stint on the four par-five holes at Augusta this year (No. 2, No. 8, No. 13 and No. 15) could mean a chance to win green jacket No. 5 on Sunday. 

Woods had a terrible run with the longer holes at this major in 2012. 

After opening up with a birdie on No. 2 in his opening round, Woods didn't birdie another par-five until Sunday—when he did so at No. 8 in the final round. In between, he also had a bogey on No. 8 in Round 1, and couldn't break par on any of his 11 chances before striking again on Sunday (scorecard courtesy of Yahoo! Sports). 

As noted by ESPN's Justin Ray, Tiger's birdie on the 13th on Thursday was his first in over a year—probably part of the reason last year was his worst finish at Augusta since 1995, when he was the low amateur and finished tied for 40th:

After birdieing No. 13, Woods did have a bit of lapse on the par-four 14th. It was his first bogey of the day and the tournament, and dropped him to two-under—his current score heading into the second round on Friday. 

But that bogey didn't hurt Tiger like dropping strokes did in 2012, in large part because he went 50 percent on the four par-fives to open things up in 2013. 

While Woods left some putts short and misread the green on others, his ability to use the driver to get out in front and make short work of the par-fives has always been a strength. If Tiger is going to win his fifth green jacket he'll have to do it on the green on the other 14 holes at Augusta—like he did at No. 6 to get things going on Thursday. 

However, that strategy also includes being able to win back strokes on each of the par-fives on this course. Woods has plenty to prove after one of the worst Masters finishes of his career in 2012, and that redemption includes getting back to his winning ways on the four best holes of his Masters career. 

He got off to a great start on Thursday.