Woods misses the cut at Quail Hollow
Finally, all the talk about Tiger Woods was mostly about his golf. And it was more bad news.
In a shocking meltdown Friday at the Quail Hollow Championship at Charlotte, N.C., Woods missed the cut for only the sixth time in his career with a performance that was incomparable for all the wrong reasons.
He shot a 79, his worst score on American soil as a pro and the second-highest of his career. He matched his highest score on nine holes with a 43 on the back nine, and that was with 3 solid pars on the tough closing stretch. His 36-hole score of 153 was the highest in his 14 years on the PGA Tour.
Rust? Mechanics? Distractions from a personal life in turmoil?
"It is what it is," Woods said. "Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough."
Not even close.
He missed the cut by a whopping 8 shots - and he was 17 shots behind 36-hole leader Billy Mayfair - and headed back to Florida as speculation mounts that being caught in rampant extramarital affairs has tarnished more than his image.
Making the performance even more surprising is that Woods was coming off a tie for fourth at the Masters three weeks ago, a remarkable result considering it was his first competition since a five-month hiatus created by his crisis at home.
Woods couldn't make a putt, and he didn't make any excuses about whether his private life is affecting his golf.
"Every day I do media, I get asked it, so it doesn't go away," he said. "Even when I'm at home paparazzi still follow us, helicopters still hover around. Does it test you? Yes, of course it does. Is that any excuse? No, because I'm out there and I have the same opportunity as everybody else here in this field to shoot a good number. And I didn't do it."
Woods' poor play was exacerbated by a 4-putt on the 15th. He ran his 30-foot birdie attempt about 31/2 feet by the hole, caught the lip with his par putt, then rapped a 30-inch putt that spun around the cup.
Mayfair birdied his last hole for a 4-under 68 that gave him the halfway lead at 8-under 136. He led by 1 shot over two-time major champion Angel Cabrera.
Tres Marias Championship: Michelle Wie shot a 5-under 68 to take the second-round lead in the LPGA Tour's Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico.
Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic: Bob Tway and 63-year-old Leonard Thompson shot 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead in the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on the Champions Tour.
Spanish Open: Sweden's Johan Edfors shot an 8-under 64 to take a 1-shot lead after the second round of the Spanish Open in Seville, Spain.