Tiger reaches weekend at 3-over at U.S. Open
Tiger Woods improved three strokes but still has hard work ahead of him this weekend as he attempts to win a fourth U.S. Open title.
After posting a 3-over-par 73 in the first round, Woods followed with a 70 in Friday’s second round and has a 36-hole score of 143.
Tiger is four strokes behind co-leaders Billy Horschel and Phil Mickelson, who are both 1 under par.
After making three birdies and six bogeys in the first round, Tiger forged three birdies and three bogeys in the second. Woods, who appeared to hurt his left elbow on Thursday, played in some pain Friday at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. He grimaced several times but never considered withdrawing.
After more than four hours of weather delays Thursday, Tiger was forced to play 26 holes Friday. He resumed his first round on the 11th green with playing partners Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, where he poured in a five-foot putt for par.
Woods followed with a bogey at the par-4 12th, then headed into the teeth of the course at the par-3 13th hole. Tiger tamed No. 13, rolling in a birdie putt.
Playing in cool, breezy conditions, he followed with three straight pars, then lost a stroke at the long, par-3 17th. His tee shot missed the green left and settled into deep rough just above a bunker. Faced with a tough stance and awkward lie, Woods just got the ball near the putting surface with his blind third shot and two-putted for a bogey.
Tiger parred the uphill, par-4 18th hole, the toughest on the course, to finish the back nine in 1-over 35. Combined with the 38 he posted on the front nine, Woods carded a 3-over 73, six strokes behind Mickelson. Woods used 32 putts during the round.
“I missed a boatload of putts,” Tiger said. “The round could have easily been under par.”
After a short break, Woods began his second round at the par-4 11th hole, where he hit a nice drive and knocked his approach shot 20 feet left of the cup. He gave his birdie putt a bold run but just missed and was able to polish off the four-footer coming back.
Tiger missed the fairway to the right at the No. 12 and his ball settled into deep rough. Using all his strength, he powered his second shot onto the green and two-putted for a par from about 15 feet.
At the 123-yard 13th hole, Woods spun a wedge five feet from the pin and curled in a tricky left-to-right slider for a birdie. But he couldn’t sustain his positive momentum. At the 453-yard, par-4 14th, Tiger found the green with his approach but three-putted for a bogey.
With the weather warming up, Woods two-putted the 415-yard, par-4 15th hole from 25 feet for a par. He also two-putted the par-4 16th hole from similar range. At the 206-yard 17th, Tiger missed the green to the right but hit a nice recovery shot and saved par.
At No. 18, however, Tiger hit two good shots but couldn’t escape without a bogey. Woods’ 5-iron approach rolled over the green and he caught a poor break when his ball settled into spongy rough and in front of a large clump of grass. Tiger tried to chop it out but left his third shot about 20 feet short of the hole and two-putted, making a five-footer for bogey.
Moving to the front nine, Woods just missed a 22-foot, uphill birdie putt on the first green, the ball curling around the cup. But he birdied the 557-yard, par-5 second, where he drove into the left rough, hit a good lay-up then spun a sand wedge from 105 yards to within a few inches of the cup for a tap-in birdie.
At the 203-yard, par-3 third, Tiger flushed a 5-iron into the center of the green, 25 feet below the hole. He ran his birdie attempt five feet past the cup but was able to convert.
The 628-yard, par-5 fourth was a struggle, but Woods came away smiling. He pulled his drive into dense rough on the left, then muscled his second shot about 175 yards into more rough on the left. Faced with 159 yards to the front pin from another fluffy lie, Tiger gouged a wonderful third shot just onto the front of the putting surface, 12 feet below the hole. He poured in the uphill putt for a hard-earned and satisfying birdie.
Woods drilled a driver down the fairway at the long par-4 fifth but hit a poor approach from 222 yards, coming up well short of the green. Faced with a slick right-to-left chip from about 50 yards, Tiger came up about 15 feet short of the cup. But he made a great putt, the ball catching the left edge of the hole and disappearing to keep his round going.
At the par-4 sixth, Woods hit a good drive and gave himself another good birdie opportunity, sending his approach shot 17 feet left of the cup. But the putt broke severely from left to right and he didn’t play enough break, settling for par.
Tiger let one get away at the par-4 seventh. Following a nice drive, he hit a poor second shot just left of the green, about 20 feet from the pin, but caught another bad break when the ball came to rest with a clump of grass behind it. Woods stubbed his third shot about three feet then chipped his fourth about six feet short of the hole. He prevented further damage by making the putt for bogey.
Looking to regain the dropped shot at the 363-yard, par-4 eighth hole, Tiger was fortunate to escape with a par. He pulled an iron off the tee into the left rough, grimacing after apparently agitating a left arm/elbow injury. Woods slashed his second shot short and right of the green — favoring his arm again — but refused to quit. After a mediocre sand wedge came up 20 feet short of the cup, Tiger willed the ball into the hole for a scrambling par.
At the 219-yard, par-3 ninth, Woods hit a good tee shot 20 feet left of the pin and faced another tricky, left-to-right birdie putt. The ball looked good most of way but broke left at the cup. Tiger played the side in 1-under 35.
With only the short, 313-yard, par-4 10th hole remaining in his round, Woods found the fairway with an iron off the tee on the sharp dogleg left. He punched a wedge 18 feet right of the hole, avoiding the dangerous back-left pin, and two-putted for a par.
“Unless you played practice rounds out here and you’ve seen the golf course, you don’t realize how difficult it is,” Tiger said. “Because the short holes are short, but if you miss the fairway, you can’t get the ball on the green. And the longer holes are brutal. And this is probably the stiffest set of par-3s we ever face. And then they’ve thrown some of the pin locations in that they have, and it’s really tough.”
Woods didn’t reveal much about his elbow injury, only saying that it started bothering him during the recent PLAYERS Championship. He said the discomfort wasn’t enough to prevent him from playing in a regular PGA TOUR event, and he hopes to move up the leaderboard on Saturday.
Tiger, who has 78 TOUR wins, including 14 Major Championships, will try to capture his first tournament victory when over par after 36 holes.
“Just keep grinding,” Woods said. “You just don’t ever know what the winning score is going to be. You don’t know if the guys are going to come back. We have a long way to go, and these conditions aren’t going to get any easier. They’re going to get more difficult. As the fairways start drying out, the ball is going to pick up mud and you’re going to get bad breaks.”
Second-round play was suspended due to darkness late Friday. Tiger enters Saturday tied for 17th at 3-over 143. His third-round tee time and playing partner will be determined at the conclusion of the second round.
