DUBLIN, Ohio – Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA Tour at the Memorial Tournament may not last as long as he had hoped.
Woods spluttered all Friday morning, struggling to find the fairway as he shot a 4-over-76 that placed him at 3 for the first two rounds and in danger of missing the cut at Muirfield Village.
The cut projected to advance to the weekend game was 2 over entering the afternoon rounds. It would be the first time the cut has been missed in 18 Memorial appearances.
“Not very good,” said Woods. “I did three holes twice before, and whatever kind of momentum it was going to create, I put it out early and fought the rest of the day.”
Woods closed Thursday’s opening round with a birdie to put him at low 1. He needed birdies on two of the last three holes on Friday to get in position to make the cut.
“I wish I had a chance to play [Saturday], and hopefully the cut will drop one more and I’ll have a chance, “Woods said.
The normally reserved Woods acknowledged that he was dealing with back problems that started while warming up before Friday’s round.
“I was not moving as well as I would like and I couldn’t go back and I couldn’t clear myself,” Woods said. “It was a bit difficult”.
Woods hit just 10 streets on Friday after reaching 13 in the first round.
He also dealt with back stiffness in February at the Genesis Open, which was the last tournament he had played in before Memorial.
“Basically most of my layoffs in my career have been due to surgeries, so this is a forced layoff for all of us,” said Woods. “This is different from my previous layoffs. But this is a new world we are living in.”
Woods opened his last nine holes with a double bogey, after hitting a sand shot on the green towards the other bunker, and a bogey. He closed the round with two birdies and a pair, which he called the “only positive” of the day.
“Well, I don’t have the same kind of stamina that I used to have, that’s for sure, when I was training hard and running and all that,” Woods said. “Okay, now I’m much older, so things change, evolve. Yes, so it is what it is. Energy, you try to absorb it as best you can and overcome it.”
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