Tiger Misses Cut At Quail Hollow Championship
Saturday, 1st May, 2010
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For only the sixth time in his professional career, Tiger Woods missed the cut Friday in the Quail Hollow Championship at Quail Hollow Club. After opening with a 2-over-par 74, he struggled to a 79 on Friday.
The 36-hole total of 153 was his highest since turning pro in 1996. His 7-over 43 on the back nine Friday matched his highest nine-hole score.
"I went home once last year," a composed Woods said afterward, referring to a missed cut at the Open Championship at Turnberry. "It is what it is. Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough."
Attracting another massive gallery on a warm, cloudless afternoon, Woods and playing partners Angel Cabrera and Stewart Cink were late starters off the first tee. Woods received a loud ovation when he was introduced and treated the fans to a thunderous drive down the center of the fairway. Fans were lined up three- and four-deep down the entire left side of the hole, hoping to get a glimpse of the world's top-ranked player.
Woods didn't disappoint. He knocked his approach shot eight feet from the hole and buried the birdie putt for a promising start.
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After a par at No. 2, Woods three-putted the third and fourth holes from long range, twice running birdie putts well past the cup. After popping up his tee shot at the par-5 fifth, he hit his second shot just short of the green, then hit a well-judged, pitch-and-run shot three feet below the hole and converted the birdie putt.
At the par-3 sixth, Woods carried the front-left bunker but failed to find the green. From there, he was unable to save par, missing from 12 feet to absorb his third bogey of the round.
With seemingly the majority of the sellout crowd of 35,000 tracking him, Woods hit his drive at the 343-yard, par-4 eighth into the left rough but had a good angle to the flag. He hit a sand wedge nine feet right of the cup and birdied the hole for the second consecutive day.
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Woods drove into the right rough at the long, par-4 ninth.
His approach shot came up just short of the green, and he two-putted for a par to make the turn in even-par 36.
"The funny thing is I didn't play that bad on the front nine," said Woods, competing for only the second time this season. "I was hitting the ball pretty decent. My short game was terrible."
Knowing he would likely need to play the back nine under par to make the cut, Woods drove into the left trees at the par-5 10th. His second shot caught a fairway bunker about 30 yards short of the green. From there, Woods gouged his third shot just short of the green, chipped six feet past the hole and missed his par attempt.
"Ten hurt a lot," he said. "I missed carrying the bunker by a foot. Instead of walking away with a four, I walked away with a six. That turned the momentum around."
Woods hooked his drive into the left fairway bunker at the par-4 11th. He blasted his second shot from 185 yards into heavy rough on the left but caught a decent lie. Woods did well to chop his third shot seven feet past the hole but couldn't salvage par.
Struggling again off the tee, Woods drove into the left rough at the 456-yard, par-4 12th. He hit a nice recovery shot, a low hook that ran through the green. Woods then struck a creative pitch, using the slope of the green as a backstop, but the ball rolled back 10 feet below the hole, and he missed the par putt.
After a two-putt par at the par-3 13th, Woods elected to go for the green at the short, par-4 14th. He pushed his driver way right and was left with a nearly impossible downhill flop shot and almost no chance to stop the ball on the green. The ball landed on the putting surface but rolled across the green and into the water on the left. He departed with a double-bogey.
At the par-5 15th, Woods drove into the right fairway bunker, blasted out down the fairway and hit his third shot 33 feet below the pin. Clearly frustrated, he four-putted for a double-bogey.
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The last three holes, nicknamed the "Green Mile" for their difficulty, took a toll on Woods in Thursday's first round, when he double-bogeyed the par-3 17th and bogeyed the par-4 18th, finding water on each hole.
On Friday, after a lengthy wait on the 16th tee, Woods drove into the left rough and found the green with his second shot and two-putted for a par from 35 feet.
At the demanding, water-lined, par-3 17th, Woods hit a nice tee shot 17 feet short of the hole and burned the left edge of the cup with his birdie attempt, settling for par.
Woods drove into the right rough at the punishing par-4 18th. But he hit a solid second shot onto the front of the green and two-putted for a closing par from 45 feet, tipping his cap to the fans despite the tough, discouraging afternoon.
Woods never lost his cool and spoke to the media following play.
"I was pretty calm because there is nothing you can do," he said. "You have to let it go."
Admittedly, he is struggling with personal issues.
"I get asked about it every day," he said. "It doesn't go away. Does it test you? Of course it does. Is that an excuse? No, it's not."
Woods knows he has work to do with his driver. After hitting only four of 14 fairways Thursday, he found only two Friday. The two-day total -- six of 28 fairways -- was his worst 36-hole total as a professional.
Woods will return to competition next week at THE PLAYERS Championship.
"Hopefully, I can piece it together next week and be ready to go," said Woods.
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