Tiger Woods lamented his "awful" iron play after falling out of contention at the Masters and scrapping his way to the weekend.

The four-time champion scrambled to a three-over-par 75, which left him four over for the tournament and 13 strokes adrift of leader Patrick Reed.

It was just enough for Woods – who is playing Augusta for the first time since 2015 due to his well-documented back injuries – to stick around for the final two rounds, but the 14-time major champion was disappointed with his all-round game.

"I felt like I hit it well off the tee. I hit my irons awful today," Woods said. 

"I didn't control my distance, my shape, spins. I left myself in bad spots. The only good iron shot I hit today all day was at the fourth and the wind laid down and I hit a little chip tee. 

"That kind of summed up the whole day. And I had a lot of beautiful putts and didn't make anything."

Despite his struggles, Woods was able to put his round in perspective, having undergone four major surgeries. 

"Six months ago, I didn't know if I'd be playing golf. Forget playing at [PGA] Tour level, I didn't know if I'd ever be playing again," Woods added. 

"But it's incredible to have the opportunity again, to still come out here and play this golf course. Now I know I'm on the weekend. Even though I'm a lot behind, if I play a special weekend, shoot two rounds in the mid-60s, you never know.

"I am pretty fresh, actually. The amount of training I've done, and the amount of work we've done in the gym, it's paid off. It's given me the opportunity to keep my legs and my core strong, to help me protect my back, but also to handle this grinding."

Reed's score of 66 that left him two shots clear of Marc Leishman at nine under was a total that Woods did not believe was doable on Friday.

"I looked at the board. He [had] three bogeys and six under for the day under these conditions? That's impressive," Woods said of Reed. 

"We were thinking that probably four or five under might be the lowest round out there. But he's proven that wrong. He's playing great. 

"We all know the kind of talent he is. Just a beautiful putter, just a great combo for this golf course."