Tiger Woods Injury Update: Unsettling Pain Patch Visuals at the Masters Explained

Tiger Woods admitted he was in pain all the time. Every part of his body still hurts. Even during the Masters. Despite making the cut and shooting way better than a handful of big names, fans were dismayed after a concerning video of his pain relief measure went viral. The 15-time Major winner had to play 23 holes on Friday—the remaining five from the opening round and the regular 18 holes.

Tiger Woods had around 50 minutes between the first round and the second round. In between, Woods appeared to use a pain reliever to massage his lower spine and torso. But more than that, the camera caught a pain patch attached to his lower back, which led many to believe the veteran might pull out like last year. But that’s not the case.

Why did Woods use adhesive patches on Friday?

Woods earlier admitted that conquering the slopes of Augusta National was going to be a massive headache. And he indeed moved slowly around the greens. Not just walking, but his body movement while bending down and assessing putts was visibly sluggish. Notably, Woods’s grouping took two hours and fifty minutes to complete the first nine on Thursday, Dan Rapaport tweeted. So, when the clip went viral, fans saw the pain patches as a bad omen.

However, adhesive patches are fairly common. They are used to provide short-term relief for both acute and chronic pain. Rory McIlroy used one in the 2018 Players Championship on his injured back. Tony Finau, too, was seen with a recovery patch at the 2018 Masters. It is a more common sight at the Olympics as well.

While there is no denying that the five-time Masters champion was pushing through the pain, the pain patch doesn’t mean that Woods was at risk of withdrawal, as some speculated on the Internet. On the contrary, the 48-year-old looks all pumped after the second round. 

Tiger Woods believes he can be in contention 

In the second round, Woods bested Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, and others who had to pack their bags early. This was his 24th straight consecutive cut at the Masters. But beyond needling Fred Couples a bit, Woods played down the achievement. Rather, his eyes are fixed on the sixth Green Jacket. 

“I’m right there. I’m only eight back as of right now. I don’t think anyone is going to run off and hide right now, but it’s really bunched. The way the ball is moving on the greens and chip shots are being blown—it’s all you want on a golf course today.”

Then there was his playing mate Max Homa, who now shares a part of the three-way lead at the top. “[H]e just is—like he understands this golf course so well, but he hits such amazing golf shots. His iron play is so good that even when he did miss the green, you could tell he had so much control.” The veteran golfer shot even par on both the first nine and the second nine. But his last nine holes were sharper, as he saved seven pars. Tiger Woods will tee off at 12.45 PM EDT.