Tiger Woods appeared to fix some of the big misses off the tee with his driver but his putter stayed as frigid on the back nine of his opening (and, likely, penultimate) round of the season as it was on the front at Whistling Straits.
Tiger Woods’ major championship woes continue at Whistling Straits
Unless he can conjure up some magic of yore, Tiger Woods is likely to miss the cut at a third straight major championship.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Woods, who failed to parlay decent ball-striking into anything better than a 3-over 75 score on Thursday at the PGA Championship, started out on track, with a par on his first hole, the par-4 10th on the links-style course on Lake Michigan. For those who witnessed the foul balls Tiger had hit for much of the year, Tiger’s work with his big stick was a welcome sight.
But after getting almost nothing to drop on his outgoing nine, Woods’ woes with the flat stick had him grinding all day. His inability to convert a 12-foot birdie putt after getting an extremely lucky bounce off the hillside on the par-3 seventh was indicative of the struggles that caused Tiger earlier to wonder just WTF was going on.
“I’ve still got it!” Woods quipped to caddie Joe LaCava after his wayward tee shot landed on the green.
There was no joking around after Tiger was unable to convert an 11-footer for birdie on No. 8, just a frustrated 14-time major champion who will have to wait until next year to go for No. 15.
Because unless Woods can go really low on Friday -- and there is no indication that will happen after he carded just two birdies on a day when birdies were plentiful for others -- the golf world has likely seen the last of the former world No. 1 in PGA Tour competition for the season. The final card:
Woods, who walked off the course after needing 33 putts, was nine shots behind early leader Dustin Johnson and faces missing the cut in his third straight major championship. He could conceivably decide to play next week in Greensboro, but with his chances slim and just about none of making the FedExCup playoffs, that addition to his schedule was extremely unlikely.
Tiger left the course in a tie for 97th. He’ll play in the spotlight on Friday afternoon during TNT’s broadcast, but that may be the last time we see him for a while.
★★★
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