Tiger Woods recovers from nightmare start to make halfway cut at the Masters as new world No.1 Scottie Scheffler takes commanding lead

Tiger Woods summoned great spirit to overturn a woeful start on day two of the Masters to make the halfway cut and maintain his place at Augusta.

Meanwhile, fellow American Scottie Scheffler showcased why he has been ranked as the number one golfer in the world by storming into a commanding lead.

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Just 14 months after a car crash that authorities admitted he was lucky to survive, Woods returned at Augusta National on Thursday.

The legendary golfer had carded an opening 71 on his latest remarkable return from injury.

The 15-time major then got off to a nightmare start on Friday as he bogeyed four of his first five holes before seemingly steadying the ship with a birdie on the eighth.

A stunning approach to the tenth set up another birdie and, although it was followed by dropped shots on the 11th and 12th, birdies on the 13th and 14th saw Woods eventually sign for a 74 to maintain his stunning record of never missing a Masters cut as a professional.

"It was blustery, swirling all over the place," Woods said.

"I got a couple of bad gusts and made a couple of bad swings on top of that. I told Joey [La Cava, his caddie] it's tough for everyone, let's get back to even for the day somehow.

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"There are a few people not struggling out there, Scottie and JT [Justin Thomas] are handling their business but hey I made the cut, got a chance going into the weekend.

"It's going to be cool tomorrow, going to be the course Augusta National wants, quicker, dryer, faster and a great test.

"I don't feel as good as I'd like to feel but that's OK. I've got a chance going into the weekend, hopefully have one of those lightbulb moments and get it done. I need to get myself there, that's the key."

Woods sits in 19th at the halfway stage and, whilst he is still in the tournament, he looks a long way from catching Scheffler.

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Arriving at Augusta National on top of the rankings after three wins in his last five starts, the American carried on where he left off.

He produced a superb second round of 67 despite blustery winds making scoring difficult.

That gave the 25-year-old a halfway total of eight under par and a record-equalling five-shot lead over defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, 2011 winner Charl Schwartzel, Ireland's Shane Lowry and first-round leader Sung-jae Im.

All five players to hold a dominant lead halfway in the tournament's history went on to claim the green jacket, with Jordan Spieth the most recent to do so in 2015.

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