2014 WGC Cadillac Championship: Tiger Woods chasing Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar at top of leaderboard

It was a bloodbath on Friday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, as a redesigned and toughened up Doral layout, high winds, and firm new greens combined for one of the toughest non-U.S. Open rounds you will see in a season. Golf Channel’s Frank Nobilo described the round as a “major championship surrounded by water” and when it was all over, only four players were in the red and 113 balls were in the drink. An astounding 108 double bogeys were put up on the board, including three straight by Phil Mickelson, who at one point just had to put his hat over his head and take a break.

Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Patrick Reed, and Matt Kuchar are the quartet at the top, the only players to hold on and get into the clubhouse under par. All WGC events feature loaded fields with some packed leaderboards, and those are four top flight American players we might see on the Ryder Cup teem this fall. Dustin bombed away on the new Gil Hanse redesign, taking lots of bunkers and hazards out of play by blasting his driver out there. He threw some shots away around the greens, and gave up what was one a three-shot margin to get in and post a 74.

Tiger Woods, who spent the morning shooting his highest career score at Doral, was again in full grind mode in the afternoon 18. It’s hard to judge whether Tiger was the mediocre and shaky player we’ve seen all year given the conditions that demoralized everyone in the field. He played his second nine under par to get in the house with a 1-over 73, a moderate improvement from the morning finish, and is just six shots back after 36 underwhelming holes. If Woods can somehow get his form together and get right back in it on Saturday, he can thank a bit of good fortune at the par-3 fourth hole. Tiger mae the longest putt on the Tour in five years, rolling one in from just shy of 92 feet for the first of two straight birdies (via PGATour):

It’s unlikely we see the confluence of factors that made Friday so brutal again on the weekend. Jamie Donaldson had the round of the day, a 2-under 70, and no one dared break through for a round in 60s. It was a rare sight for a non-major round, even if it was a big money WGC title with all the top players in the world.

As is the case with all WGC events, there’s no cut for the limited and exclusive field so guys like Phil and Tiger aren’t out of it at the midpoint. Here’s the leaderboard heading into the weekend