Tiger Woods triple-bogeys on par-4 fifth hole during Round 4 of Masters Tournament

At a different and earlier point in his long and legendary professional golf career, it would perhaps be expected that Tiger Woods would only need three shots to get to the hole on the par-4 fifth hole at Augusta National Golf Club.

On Sunday, early in Woods’ fourth and final round at the 2024 Masters, he hit three shots just from the hole’s tee box.

In a surreal and stunning sequence, Woods triple-bogeyed the 495-yard Magnolia, due in large part to hitting three tee shots. That series of miscues dropped the 48-year-old Woods even further down the leaderboard, to 14 over for the tournament.

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How, exactly, does a golfer, let alone arguably the greatest to ever play the game, end up hitting three drives on the same hole? Woods sliced his first drive on the hole into the trees bordering the right side of the hole. Believing that his ball might be lost, Woods hit a provisional shot that went right down the middle of the fairway.

Ultimately, though, Woods’ first shot was found. His ball was unplayable, though, and to complicate matters, Woods didn’t believe he had a suitable drop location within one club length of the ball.

He wasn’t able to use his provisional ball sitting in the middle of the fairway, either, as Rule 19 of the USGA rule book states that a provisional ball does not remain in play if the original ball is located or remains in bounds. Unable to hit his provisional ball and with his original ball deemed unplayable, Woods had to hit from the original spot, which, in this case, meant riding a car back to the tee box.

On what counted as his third shot of the hole, Woods hit a drive down the fairway. His approach shot landed on the green and he three-putted to finish with a triple-bogey, his worst score on a hole in this tournament.

After making his record 24th consecutive cut at the Masters on Friday, Woods has struggled since, shooting a 10-over 82 during Saturday’s third round and a 4-over 40 on the front nine during Sunday’s fourth round.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Tiger Woods triple-bogeys on par-4 fifth hole in Masters Tournament's Round 4