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#Tiger Woods implodes at Memorial, unlikely to make cut

#Tiger Woods implodes at Memorial, unlikely to make cut

DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods is hanging on the precipice of making the wrong kind of history.

Woods, 44, has never missed a cut in the 17 times he’s played Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial tournament. He’s won the event five times and finished out of the Top 25 only three times in that span.

After posting a 4-over-par 76 in Friday’s Memorial second round, though, Woods found himself having to wait out the afternoon to see if he’s going to make his 18th consecutive cut at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

After his round, Woods stood at 3-over par for the tournament, one shot out of the cut and 12 shots out of the lead with the afternoon wave of tee times just starting.

Woods, who began his round on the 10th hole, stood on the tee at the par-5 seventh hole (his 16th hole of the day) at 5-over par and looking like he was a goner for the weekend — a rare Friday-afternoon trunk slam for him.

But he birdied Nos. 7 and 8, where he made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3, to scratch back to 3-over and within touching range of making the cut. That Woods, who shot a 1-under 71 in Thursday’s opening round thanks to a birdie on 18, his final hole, was even in a pickle in terms of making the cut was a surprise considering he birdied No. 12 Friday to get to 2-under par.

At that moment, it looked like he was poised to make a run up the leaderboard and get himself in contention. Instead, he went the other way, carding bogeys on Nos. 13, 15 and 17 and then a double on No. 10 and bogeys on Nos. 2 and 6 before he scratched back with those late birdies.

Tiger Woods today at The Memorial
Tiger Woods today at The MemorialGetty Images

Woods missed the fairway on No. 9, his final hole, and was forced to make a seven-foot par-save putt just to stay at 3-over and give himself a chance to play the weekend.

It was clear, particularly on his back nine, that Woods’ balky back was not loose, as he kept missing tee shots to the right rough and released his right hand from the club on the follow-through.

“I wasn’t quite moving as well as I’d like and couldn’t quite turn back and couldn’t quite clear,’’ Woods said. “It was a bit of a struggle. It started this morning during the warm-up. It wasn’t quite as good as I’d like.’’

Asked about his concern for missing the cut, Woods said, “I would like to have the opportunity to play (Saturday), and hopefully the cut will fall one more and I’ll have the opportunity.’’

Instead of either going back to his rental home and preparing for the third round or heading straight to his private jet to fly home to Florida, Woods was going to have to wait around until early Friday evening to know whether or not he’ll have a tee time on Saturday.

His physical struggles on Friday came one day after he was asked if, after not having played a tournament in five months, he was concerned about the quick turnaround playing the second round.

“No, I’ve felt good about my training over the last few months,’’ he said. “I’ve gotten ready for this.’’

Woods, however, indicated on Friday that he never really knows what he’s going to get from his body on a day-to-day basis when he wakes up in the morning.

“Aging is not fun,’’ he said. “Early on in my career, I thought it was fantastic because I was getting better and better and better, and now I’m just trying to hold on.

“The last four or five years have been difficult as I’ve gone through (back) procedures and have tried to come back,’’ he went on. “It’s going to happen more times than not. I don’t have the same type of stamina as I used to have when I was training hard and running and all that stuff.

“Granted, I’m a lot older now, so things change, they evolve. Energy, you try to suck it up as best you can and get through it.’’

Rory McIlroy, who along with Brooks Koepka was grouped with Woods the past two days, said after the round that he could see Woods laboring as the day went on.

“He looked pretty good starting off, and then you could sort of tell when we made the turn, he hit a couple fairway wood shots off the tee that he sort of quit on,’’ McIlroy said. “It looked a little bit that way _ that he wasn’t quite moving as well. But he battled really well. He made those two birdies coming in and a good save on 9. Hopefully that’s enough for him to be around for the weekend.’’

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