Woods dodges cut with birdies
HAVEN, Wis. — Tiger Woods was on missing-the-cut watch Friday throughout the second round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
But with three holes left and still below the cut line, Woods rallied with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and made the cut by one stroke.
Woods finished with a 3-under-par 69 and extended his record to 129 consecutive cuts made. The last time he failed to make the cut and play on the weekend was at the 1998 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
“I wasn’t playing very well,” Woods said. “I had to keep trying to make pars and keep trying to get it out there and put it in play—I wasn’t doing that. I just had to rely on my flat stick, and fortunately it decided to come around today.”
Woods’ second round was an improvement on his opening 75, but at even-par 144, he remains far off the leaders’ pace.
Woods’ daylong struggle stole the spotlight from playing partners Vijay Singh and Justin Leonard. Singh made six birdies, shot 68 and was tied for the lead at 9-under 135 with Leonard, who had five birdies in his round of 69.
Ernie Els, who has contended in the year’s three previous majors, shot 70 and was in a three-way tie at 136. Joining him were first-round leader Darren Clarke, who shot 71, and Briny Baird, who had a 69.
Els has come close to winning the Masters and British Open, finishing second at each. He tied for ninth at the British Open last month and said luck just hasn’t been on his side.
“It just hasn’t gone my way,” Els said. “As I’ve said before, I’ve said this quite a few times, at the Masters I played as good as I could and Phil (Mickelson) beat me. At the British Open, I had a couple of chances. I feel like I could have putted a little bit better. I’m not taking anything away from Todd Hamilton; he beat me.”
Els said he’ll prepare for the next two rounds of competition as he usually does at a major.
“No, there’s no different approach to this week than any other major,” he said. “I’m trying to win like I try and win any other major.”
Leonard had another solid round, and in the process of grabbing a share of the lead, he also got everyone’s tongues wagging about his chances of making this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Leonard was the big hero for the United States in the 1999 Ryder Cup at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. He rallied to halve his match against Jose Maria Olazabal, leading the U.S. team to victory.
There hasn’t been much talk of Leonard this year as a potential Ryder Cup player. He’s 30th in the U.S. team standings and almost assuredly needs to win this week to automatically qualify. But the odds look promising for Leonard, whose game suits the course. He learned to keep his ball out of the wind while growing up in Texas and it has paid off at Whistling Straits, a windy links-style course.
“I felt like I played solid today,” Leonard said. “Not quite as well as yesterday, but still it was a good day, staying out of trouble for the most part. I missed a couple more fairways today.”
Baird stole the show early.
Baird got off to quick start by rolling in a 30-footer for birdie on the second hole. He birdied the fourth and fifth holes, then the seventh to get to 9 under . He faltered down the stretch with two bogeys against one birdie and said he felt his swing started to break down as he made his final approach to the clubhouse.
Clarke started on the 10th hole and got off to a shaky start with a double-bogey seven on the 11th. He steadily climbed his way back with three birdies for a 1-under 35 on his first nine holes. The next nine brought two birdies and two bogeys and gave Clarke another sub-par round.
On the Ryder Cup watch list, Chris DiMarco shot 70 and was alone at 138. Chris Riley shot 70 and was in a group at 139. Jay Haas, 50, shot 72 and was tied at 140 with Luke Donald and Loren Roberts.
Mickelson shot 72 and was in a large group at 141.