The impressive blows on the water that surprised all spectators at the Augusta Masters

Although the vast majority of the focus at the Augusta Masters pointed to Tiger Woods' return to professional activity, on the day before the first day of competition, the talents who will participate in the event began to show part of their repertoire. In the Par 3 competition held on the holes of the renowned Augusta National Golf Club, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose took care of lifting the audience from their seats with two impressive strokes.

The theme of the competition is to finish the hole in three strokes or less. With a gap in the middle, the British competitor calculated the distance to try a firm hit that makes the ball bounce off the surface of the water without sinking. In the watchful eyes of those present, he managed to leave the ball a few meters from the desired goal, generating the ovation of the public.

However, he would not be the only one to achieve this: the South African also used the same resource and achieved a similar result. Two consecutive shots with a very high degree of difficulty with the particularity that Rose ended up hitting his colleague's ball and moving it away from the final hole. As it was nothing more than a friendly event, it was all laughs and congratulations among the golfers who will compete from this Thursday in search of putting on the characteristic green jacket.

“It was a lovely shot,” Fleetwood told reporters after their round. He added in a challenging tone with a view to the main event that will take place between April 7 and 10: “It's very good to have such a hit at the Masters. Now three very competitive days are coming. Suddenly, executions come out as I imagine them in my head. I'll try to repeat it.”

All expectations are placed on Tiger's return that this Wednesday plans to play a nine-hole practice round to make the final decision after seeing how his physique responds to the effort. “It's about how my body is going to recover and what my body can do the next day,” explained the 15-time Grand Slams winner in front of the microphones after playing nine-hole practice rounds in the last two days.

It is worth remembering that the 46-year-old golfer was hospitalized for weeks and was unable to walk for months after a car accident in February 2021. Woods' opening in Thursday's first round would be one of the most surprising injury returns in the history of the sport, as the five-time Masters champion has not officially played since defending his title at the 2020 Masters.

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