Tiger Woods missed the US Open after a recent bogey-filled round

Golf

By Mark Cannizzaro

PINEHURST, NC – Tiger Woods’ latest major championship has once again come to an early end.

The 47-year-old Woods opened Friday afternoon for his U.S. Open career at Pinehurst No. Chased the cutline at 2.

And, in the end, he lost the race.

Woods, who shot a 4-over-par 74 in Thursday’s opening round, could only shoot a 3-over-par 73 on Friday, finishing at 7-over par and missing the cut by two shots.

He missed the cut at last month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he won once, and finished 60th and last among players who made the cut at the Masters in April.

Woods withdrew from his only tournament this season, the Genesis Invitational.

Barring unforeseen changes to his schedule, Woods will play just one more tournament this season — next month’s British Open at Royal Troon, the site of his first Open Championship in 1997.

“To win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut,” Woods said later. “I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it’s definitely frustrating. I thought I played well enough to be in the tournament. It didn’t go well.

“[It’s] disappointment I’m not here for the weekend. I felt like my bowling was good enough to be in the tournament, I wasn’t. “Yes, it’s disappointing because I didn’t come here to win the weekend.”

It’s been a similar story this week for Woods, who can’t quite match the younger generation.

He had plenty of opportunities on Friday’s back nine and occasionally missed a birdie putt.

Since his historic 2019 win at the Masters, Woods has recorded just one top-10 finish and has been far from contention in all competitions.

Woods was 6-over-par on Friday at No. He fell with a bogey on 12 that put him one shot outside the intended cutline.

His most frustrating moment came on the 15th hole, where he began to walk what looked like a birdie putt that was almost 360 degrees off the edge.

Had that putt dropped, it would have gotten Woods to 5-over at the cutline.

Realizing he needed at least one birdie to make the cut, Woods leaned down with his hands on his knees.

“Yes, 15 people were injured,” Woods said. “That’s a sweet little 7-iron and a nice putt, high-side lip. If I make that putt, it flips the momentum and I’m pretty good on the last three holes.

“Instead, I’m on the wrong side of the cut line and need to do something good in the last three holes. That’s probably the highest score I could have had today. I hit a lot of good shots.

He promptly bogeyed the par-4 16th hole to fall 7-over, ending his chances of playing the weekend.

Woods once made 142 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour, a record that will never be broken.

He is also tied with Jack Nicklaus with 39 consecutive cuts in major championships.

In Woods’ last six majors, he’s made just one cut — this year at the Masters. Among others, he had two withdrawals and three missed cuts.

Since his 2019 Masters win, his best finish at a major was a 21st-place finish at the 2019 US Open.

Asked if he would try to play more tournaments to stay sharp, Woods said, “I only have one tournament left this season. I didn’t think I would be even if I won the British Open [FedExCup] Playoffs. Just one more event and then I’ll be back whenever.

It will certainly be his own Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December, which has been his pattern for the past several years.

“Until [this being] My last US Open championship, I don’t know what it was,” Woods said. “It may or may not be.”