AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) _ Tiger Woods lost a golf club but saved a par at the Masters on Sunday.

Already enduring a difficult day, Woods snapped one of his middle irons while punching out from behind a tree on the 11th hole.

His drive landed to the right and slightly behind one of the pines that was planted in recent years specifically to make the layout at Augusta National more difficult.

He took a swing to punch the ball back into the fairway and the shaft of the club rammed into trunk of the tree and bent in half. Woods let go of the club as soon as he could after making contact, knowing he could have broken his arm or hand had he held on.

Instead, it was the club that took the abuse. Woods picked it up after the shot and finished the job, snapping it in two. He saved par on the hole to stay at 5-over, but was still three behind the leaders with six holes left.

The Rules of Golf state that players can replace a club if it is broken in the course of normal play, though there were no signs that he was looking for a replacement.