Source : PAUL NEWBERRY, AP National Writer JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP)—Tiger Woods trudged toward the 18th green, his head down after one last shot plopped into the water.
The gallery at Atlanta Athletic Club mustered some polite—almost sympathetic—applause.
It was a far cry from the roar he’s heard so many times, but hardly the only thing that’s changed in Tiger’s world.
Once identified by either his No. 1 ranking or his 14 majors, Woods missed the cut Friday at the PGA Championship with a performance that was even more shocking because of the numbers he compiled.
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He hit into 22 bunkers. He put four balls in the water. His five double bogeys were the most he ever made in one tournament.
With one final bogey for a 3-over 73, Woods finished out of the top 100 for the first time ever in a major. He was 15 shots behind Jason Dufner, who has never won a PGA Tour event, and Keegan Bradley, playing in his first major.
“Obviously frustration, disappointment that I’m not contending in the tournament,” Woods said. “Next time.”
That’s going to be a while. He doesn’t expect to tee it up again until the Australian Open in November, and his next shot at a 15th major title is eight long months away, the Masters next spring.
“I got some time off again,” said Woods, who had just come off a three-month layoff last week after allowing an injured leg to fully heal.
His body may be feeling good, but his game is a mess.
This week, it’s a bunch of obscure guys who are playing a game that used to be familiar to Woods.
Tiger Woods spent far too much time in bunkers during his forgettable two rounds at the PGA Championship.
(Getty Images)
Dufner, who hasn’t made a cut since the last week in May, holed a 25-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole and threw in five birdies for a 5-under 65 that put him atop the leaderboard for the first time in a major.
Bradley, a tour rookie and the nephew of LPGA great Pat Bradley, did even better with a bogey-free round of 64.
They weren’t the only surprising front-runners. There were only three major winners among the top 25—Jim Furyk, Davis Love III and Trevor Immelman, all of them with one title apiece.
Journeymen D.A. Points (67) and John Senden (68) were one stroke off the lead. Forty-six-year-old, no-time tour winner Brandt Jobe (69) was another shot back.
“These guys are all great players,” Bradley insisted. “It’s not like they just kind of stumbled up there. They’ve been out here a long time.”
Even as Steve Stricker followed up his record-tying 63 with a 74, and as Rory McIlroy made it around with a heavily taped right wrist, Woods captivated the crowd on another steamy day in Atlanta.
There were times the fans wanted to cover their eyes.
Woods blasted out of a bunker and went into the pond on the other side of the green for a double bogey. On his next hole, he hooked his drive into the trees, chipped out sideways, then hit a snap-hook back into the trees for another double bogey.
At least he went out in style—one more bunker off the tee at No. 18, one more shot into the pond fronting the green.
He was angry Thursday when he opened with a 77. He looked numb when he left.
It was only the seventh time he has failed to qualify for the weekend in 227 tournaments worldwide, and the third time in a major. He completed only one major this year, a tie for fourth at the Masters.
Now the only question is when—and where—he will play next.
Steve Stricker faltered after his opening-round 63, but he's still in contention.
(Getty Images)
Woods failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which he has won two of the past four years, meaning he is ineligible for any PGA Tour event for the next six weeks. The next tournament on his schedule is the Australian Open, starting Nov. 10, although he would not rule out playing somewhere—perhaps a Fall Series event—before then.
Meanwhile, it’s back to practice.
“Now I’ll have nothing to do but work on my game,” he said. “That’s going to be good.”
Woods wasn’t the only one headed home early. Defending PGA champion Martin Kaymer was among three players from the top 10 in the world to miss the cut— the others were Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, who missed last year’s playoff at Whistling Straits because a disputed two-stroke penalty on the 72nd hole.
The leaderboard wasn’t totally devoid of experience.
Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion having his worst season since he was a rookie, emerged from his slump with a 65 and was in the group at 4-under 136 that included Scott Verplank, a former U.S. Amateur champion.
Verplank has been coping with wrist and elbow injuries longer than he cares to remember, but he’s always been a good putter and that carried him to the outright lead for much of the afternoon.
After struggling with the bunkers and rough along the back nine, he left the course in good spirits after laying up on the 18th and scratching out a par.
Another shot back was Stricker, who was 11 shots worse than his record-tying start, but still in the mix.
Stricker opened this major by going 20 straight holes without a bogey until he started missing putts on the edge of the cup. He still was tied for the lead until dropping two more shots at the end of his round, including a shot into the water on the 18th for bogey. He had a 74 and was in the group at 3-under 137.
“I was on the other end of the spectrum where it was tough going all the way around,” Stricker said. “But we’re still in there, only a couple back, and anything could happen on the weekend.”
Woods may be gone, but his ex-caddie will have a late tee time. Adam Scott, who hired Steve Williams for his bag, made a strong move into contention until a blunder on the last hole. Trying to lay up with a punch shot under the trees, it came out too hot and went into the front of the water. Scott finished with a double bogey for a 69 and was three shots behind.
Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, Nos. 1 and 2 in the world and both trying to win their first major, are still very much in the picture. Westwood quietly pieced together a 69 and was at 1-under 139, while Donald shot 71 and was only six shots out of the lead.
So was Phil Mickelson, who finished one shot behind on this course 10 years ago. He was moving up until he dumped his approach at 18 into the water and took double bogey for a 70.
“I thought at the start of the week, 6 under was going to win the tournament,” Westwood said. “It may still do. I’m sort of cruising into position.”
McIlroy still thinks he has a chance, too.
It was big news when the U.S. Open champion showed up on the range about 30 minutes before his tee time, his right wrist taped from his decision—a bad one, he conceded—to hit a 7-iron through a tree root on Thursday.
His wrist was sore but held up fine. His putting was another story.
McIlroy three-putted three times on his way to a 73, the most untimely of those coming on the par-3 17th after he hit into the water. That gave him a triple bogey and killed his momentum, but not his optimism. He was eight shots back.
“If I don’t think I could contend,” he said, “I probably wouldn’t be playing.”
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