Tiger Woods moves safely inside British Open projected cut line

The British Open, which boasts a full 156-man field, utilizes a pretty standard cut rule. The top 70 and ties make it through to the weekend. At Carnoustie this week, it looks like that number will come in somewhere around 2-over. The wind, of course, could turn unexpectedly and start bumping scores higher but that is not in the forecast at the moment. It will pick up in the afternoon, but it’s not supposed to be a dramatic difference. Rain has softened the course a bit and could yield to lower scores that move the number up a stroke or two.

The top draw near the cut line on Friday morning is the biggest draw in the history of the game. Tiger Woods, who posted an even-par 71 on Thursday, started his second round with two bogeys in his first three holes. That promptly put him on the wrong side of the cut line. Woods has missed five of his last seven major championship cuts but of course some of those came as he played with a messed up back.

Woods missed the U.S. Open cut a month ago by a good margin and that was always a possibility with Shinnecock and a USGA setup. But an MC this week would have been much more disappointing and shocking. Carnoustie, baked to a crisp, was set up well for Tiger to post some numbers. His history on the links and his creative mind for it make him well-suited for this major. It’s also the one that is most benign for the aging vets, as has been demonstrated over the past decade.

So Tiger gassing up the jet for the States on Friday would have been a massive disappointment. Fortunately, he has righted the ship following those two early bogeys. He backed them up immediately with two birdies, one on the fourth and another coming via a long putt that you just can’t consistently count on.

So Tiger is back to two clear of the cut line. Justin Thomas, however, took a big nosedive to the wrong side of the cut line with three straight double bogeys on Nos. 6 through 8. He went from the first page of the leaderboard to a tie for 100th place. That’s no good for the No. 2 player in the world.

The No. 1 player in the world, Dustin Johnson, will also need to make a major move if he wants to play the weekend. DJ is 4-over after his opening round 75. Here’s your early Friday cut line with the afternoon wave still to get out there.

UPDATE:

The +2 group is now safe at the moment but we’ve still got half the field to play and finish over in Scotland. Here’s your live leaderboard: