Tiger’s Round 2 cut short by darkness after late start
Tiger Woods is unlikely to make the cut in the 144th 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 12th 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 10th, 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 11th for a par, then reached the par-4 12th green in regulation before stopping play.