Tiger Woods Falls to 13 Strokes Back After Shooting 3-over in Masters Round 2

Tiger Woods survived the cut but his chances of winning the 2018 Masters Tournament took another hit Friday with a three-over 75 in the second round at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Woods finished the day at four over in the season's first major. He's 13 strokes behind leader Patrick Reed in a tie for 40th place after failing to break par for the second straight round.

The four-time Masters champion returned to the marquee event after missing the last two years with lingering back problems. He last captured a green jacket in 2005.

Tiger simply never found a rhythm during the first two rounds.

Although there were times during his recent upswing in form when one part of his game was off, whether it was wayward driving or lackluster putting, he was usually able to grind out solid scores to keep himself in contention.

That wasn't true over the past couple of days. No facets of his game were particularly sharp, which meant he spent more holes trying to save par than chasing birdies.

Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports commented on the performance by Woods, one of the mentally toughest athletes in the world at his peak:

The first shot of the day from the 42-year-old fan favorite, whose recent play caused a massive uptick in hype leading into the Masters, might have been his best. He drilled his opening drive right down the heart of the fairway. Few shots over the next five hours landed where he wanted them.

Woods ended up bogeying the first hole despite the ideal placement, and a disastrous second shot on the fifth led to an unplayable lie and a double bogey.

ESPN Stats & Info noted his continued struggles on golf's biggest stages:

Tiger finally recorded his first birdie of the round on the 13th. It took until his seventh opportunity of the tournament to take advantage of a par five, however. That was one of his biggest strengths in his prime.

He added another birdie on the par-five 15th, but gave that shot back with a bogey on the next hole. He closed with a pair of pars to avoid any cut-line drama.

Mike McAllister of the PGA Tour provided Woods' final numbers from Round 2:

Ultimately, it would take nothing short of a miracle for Woods to achieve a comeback victory. He needs back-to-back outstanding rounds to make a serious charge, and he'd likely still require some help in the form of mistakes from the likes of Reed, Marc Leishman and the rest of the contenders.

The fact the 14-time major winner has completed two rounds at Augusta and the focus is on his mediocre play rather than his health is a victory in itself, though.