Tiger Woods admitted the period coming into the Masters was "a pretty low moment" in his career, after making the cut at Augusta.

The four-time Masters champion came into the year's first major with just over two-and-a-half competitive rounds to his name on the PGA Tour in 2015, but he went 73-69 to make the weekend.

Woods' three-under-par round on Friday featured a stunning approach at the 11th, when he found the green from the trees to make birdie - one of four for the day.

The 39-year-old, now ranked 111 in the world, told Sky Sports: "It's been solid. I played a little better today than I did yesterday.

"That's kind of the fun part [seeing his game come together]. I was at a pretty low moment at my career and to change an entire [swing] pattern is not easy to do."

Woods' round was his first below 70 at Augusta since 2011 and the American expressed surprise at the soft conditions for a second day in succession.

"I was shocked," said Woods, referring to the speed of the greens.

"I thought they would pick up a bit of pace. We just couldn't believe how slow they were yesterday. 

"And again today, there was a lot of moisture on them. I had a couple of balls spin back that I didn't expect."

Despite sitting 12 shots behind runaway leader Jordan Spieth, Woods remains optimistic of doing some damage at the weekend.

"I'm very excited," he said.

"I'm 12 back right now, but there's not a lot of guys ahead of me. If they want to toughen it [the course] up, they can. 

"We'll see what it is tomorrow. Luckily I'm towards the end of the pack and I'll get to see what the guys are doing early."