Tiger Woods rallies with a birdie on his final hole to make first PGA Tour cut in 889 days

Tiger Woods’ latest comeback attempt seemed destined to end as abruptly on Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open as it did last year when he missed the cut on a Torrey Pines venue the former world No. 1 used to dominate.

Woods made the turn at 2-over 38 after a dreadful double-bogey on the par-4 13th (his fourth hole of the day), apparently out of the running for the weekend.

But he poured it on in his incoming nine, riding vintage Tiger Woods wedge play to four birdies and a 1-under 71 that got him to 1-under for the week and juuuust on the projected cut line.
 Woods, with his first cut made since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 — 888 days ago — appears to have overcome the chipping yips that recently threatened to end his career.

“My short game’s been good all week … solid,” Woods told Golf Channel after his round.

Even more important, Tiger finished 36 holes looking as healthy as he has been in years, taking vicious cuts out of the heavy rough with nary a grimace nor a clutch at his back.

In 2017, Woods returned to the PGA Tour at Torrey for his first full-field event since that 2015 Wyndham. His trip to San Diego this time around will last two days longer than last year’s depressing slog. In each case, Tiger was coming off a decent showing at the Hero World Challenge.

The 14-time major champion has undergone four back surgeries since March 2014, the most recent being a spinal fusion procedure in April 2017. He took the field on Thursday for his first official tour contest since last year at Torrey.

Despite consistently missing putting surfaces with his approach shots and getting little going on Friday on the North Course until his back nine, Woods finally jarred his first birdie of the second round on his 10th hole. It provoked a vintage Tiger fist pump.

Another bird on the par-5 fifth (his 14th hole of the day) gave Tiger fans hope that their hero might make it to the weekend after all.

An errant drive off the sixth tee and another missed green from the thick stuff precluded another birdie, though a magnificent pitch shot to kick-in distance allowed Tiger to save par. The pitch was the kind of unlikely escape that Tiger used to make in his prime.

A birdie on No. 7 got Woods to 1-under and right on the projected cut line. The last five holes were an up-and-down roller coaster ride as Tiger dove above and below the projected cut line.

A terrible chip from off the front of the eighth green that bounced all the way across the putting surface resulted in a bogey that dropped him back to even-par. It was an ugly par-3 that made his final hole of the day a must-make birdie just to have a chance of playing the weekend.

Tiger never makes it easy and his 18th hole was emblematic of the entire grind this round became on Friday afternoon. A wayward drive put him in a decent lie from the right rough and some 216 yards to the flag. Tiger found the putting surface and faced a tricky shot across the green for eagle. A perfect lag allowed him to tap in for birdie and a Saturday tee time with a 1-under mark after 36 holes.

“It was a grind. I fought hard… and it felt good,” Woods said. “Hopefully, I’ll be around for the weekend… and I’ll keep on building.”

In other news, defending champion Jon Rahm continued his stellar play. Fresh from a playoff victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge, the 23-year-old Spaniard would surpass Dustin Johnson for golf’s top ranking with a win this week. After a 66 to go with his opening 68, Rahm will start the weekend in second place at 10-under, one shot off the pace set by 36-hole leader Ryan Palmer.

Meanwhile, Tiger prodigy Jason Day, who withdrew from the pro-am with a bad back earlier in the week, had the round of the day, firing an 8-under 64 to get to 7-under for the week and rocket up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth.

But all that mattered on Friday afternoon came in the middle of the board, not with those names at the top. Tiger is back playing the weekend on a PGA Tour event for the first time in almost 900 days. Whatever you think of Woods, that closing tap-in birdie to rally was relieving and an incredibly cool scene.