Unable to rally, Woods misses cut at Quail Hollow
With a two-round score of even-par 144, Tiger Woods fell one stroke short of the cut line at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. After opening with a 1-under-par 71 on Thursday, Woods shot a 73 Friday to finish in a tie for 75th.
It is only the eighth missed cut of his pro career, dating back to his rookie season in 1996. It is also the first time he has missed the cut twice in the same event; Woods previously failed to qualify for the weekend at Quail Hollow in 2010.
The last time Tiger missed a cut was at the 2011 PGA Championship in Atlanta. It was only his second tournament back after missing four months with left knee and Achilles injuries.
An early back-nine starter with Geoff Ogilvy and Webb Simpson, Woods was unable to birdie any of the four par-5s. He missed a three-foot birdie putt at the par-5 10th hole and never got untracked with his putter.
Tiger did birdie the 421-yard, par-4 11th hole despite hitting his tee shot into the left fairway bunker. From there, he knocked his second shot from 152 yards just inside three feet of the cup and made the putt.
Then, the round started to slip away. Woods made back-to-back bogeys at the 456-yard, par-4 12th and 201-yard, par-3 13th holes. A poor drive led to the first bogey, and he three-putted from 40 feet for the second.
Tiger gave himself a good birdie opportunity at the par-4 14th, but was unable to convert from 10 feet. He missed 13-foot birdie attempts at the par-5 15th and par-4 16th holes, but finally coaxed one in at the demanding, 217-yard, par-3 17th, draining an 18-foot putt.
Woods gave back a shot at the par-4 18th. He drove into the right rough off the tee, came up 30 yards short with his second shot and two-putted for a bogey from 13 feet to make the turn in 1-over 37.
Tiger made a nice par save at the par-4 first hole, where he hit his approach shot from 130 yards into the front left bunker and blasted to two feet. He would go on to par every hole on the side, though he did have an odd occurrence at the par-5 fifth hole.
After flushing a 300-yard drive down the fairway, Woods pulled his second shot way left into a native area full of bare ground and trampled pine needles. Fans reportedly surrounded the ball, but when Tiger arrived, it was nowhere to be found.
Mark Russell, vice president for rules and competitions for the PGA Tour, was summoned and wound up giving Tiger a free drop after a witness said he saw the ball bounce on the ground.
“Based on the evidence there, it looked to me like somebody picked up the ball,” said Russell.
Woods went on to make par.
Knowing he was close to the projected cut line, Tiger gave himself a great birdie chance at the 343-yard, par-4 eighth hole, where his tee shot settled just short of the green, 32 yards from the cup. Woods pitched to within four feet of the hole but lipped out his birdie try before holing a 3-footer to save par.
At the par-4 ninth, Woods hit a good drive but also a poor approach, the ball stopping 49 feet from the hole. He did well to two-putt, sinking a five-foot putt.
On the day, Woods hit 78 percent of the greens and 43 percent of the fairways in regulation. However, he struggled on the greens, using 33 putts.
