Tiger Woods, a day after making his many critics eat their words by putting up an opening-round 3-under 69 at the British Open, flirted with missing the cut in a major for the fourth time in his professional career.
Tiger Woods flirts with British Open missed cut after catching Rory McIlroy’s Friday curse
Woods and McIlroy headed in different directions in the 2nd round of the British Open, as the 14-time major winner checked out down the stretch on and ugly day.
“Not very good,” Woods told reporters about his play on Friday after posting a 5-over 77 to end his two days at Hoylake exactly on the projected cut line of 2-over. “I got off to a terrible start again and I had some opportunities to make a few birdies along the way ... I just never did.”
On his opening hole along, Woods criss-crossed the fairway three times and put it in the high fescue junk on his way to an opening double-bogey.
Woods, who unwisely hit a driver, which he has had difficulty controlling, off the tee on No. 17 -- twice, after knocking the first ball out of bounds -- picked a good time for his lone birdie of the day when he pumped in his fourth shot on No. 18 just to ensure a date on the weekend.
But it was not a pretty round for the former world No. 1, who has of late saved his major swoons for the final 36 holes.
This time around, though, Woods, who got off to a bogey, double start and went on a 15-hole consecutive par run, seemed to have caught Rory McIlroy’s Freaky Friday disease.
Meanwhile, Tiger’s Nike compatriot looked like the guy who scorched both Congressional and Kiawah for his two major titles. McIlroy, who has gotten off to solid starts this season only to stumble on several Fridays, posted a bogey on No. 1, but that was the end of his errors as he added seven birdies to get to 66 for the day and 12-under for the tournament and the 36-hole lead.
As for Woods, who noted on Thursday that he needed to tighten up every element of his game, his day could be summed up when he nearly put on a Henrik Stenson club-snapping display of frustration after his second shot from the deep stuff on the par-5 16th landed way short in similar long grasses.
Two putts followed for Woods’ 14th consecutive par, keeping the 14-time major winner stuck in neutral.
“I didn’t hit the driver very good today,” Woods said. “I figured today would be a chance to go out there and be aggressive. Just didn’t drive it well.”
And that’s how you go from starting the day in the top 10 to needing a birdie putt on the last just to make the cut.
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