Tiger’s Round 2 cut short by darkness after late start

Tiger Woods is unlikely to make the cut in the 144^th Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. Nonetheless, he will still be competing Saturday.

On Friday, play was delayed for 3 1/2 hours due to heavy rain. As a result, Woods and playing partners Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen didn’t tee off until 1:10 p.m. ET. They reached the 12^th green when play was suspended and will return Saturday at 2 a.m. ET to complete their rounds.

After opening with a 4-over-par 76 on Thursday, Tiger was 1-over through 11 holes Friday. The projected cut is even-par 144.

Woods missed the cut at the U.S. Open and has never missed two consecutive major cuts as a professional or three PGA TOUR cuts in the same season.

To extend that streak, Tiger will need a fabulous finish Saturday. Thus far, he has managed only two birdies in 29 holes and has gone 0-for-18 on the easier front nine.

To compound the challenge, the morning forecast calls for more rain and winds of 25 miles per hour.

After a tough start Thursday that saw him bogey the first two holes, Woods opened with three straight pars Friday. A poor drive led to a tough second shot on the par-4 fourth, where he found the green but three-putted from about 60 feet in the chilly, windy conditions.

Tiger made a nice par-save at the par-5 fifth, but sustained his second bogey at the par-4 sixth, where he blocked his driver into a gorse bush on the right, took an unplayable lie and wound up two-putting. He closed the side with three straight pars to make the turn in 2-over 38.

At the par-4 10^th, Woods hit a good drive and stiffed a wedge from 125 yards within two feet of the pin for an easy birdie. With darkness setting in, he two-putted the par-3 11^th for a par, then reached the par-4 12^th green in regulation before stopping play.