Golf

Tiger shows human side, misses cut

Lost intensity and a pile of bogeys force an early end to Woods' U.S. Open bid.

By BOB HARIG
Published June 17, 2006

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - It made for a good story, the notion that Tiger Woods would return to golf after the death of his dad and attempt to win the U.S. Open on Father's Day.

But this Tiger tale won't have a happy ending.

As it turns out, Woods will not even be at Winged Foot Golf Club on Sunday, let alone competing for the title.

For the first time in his 10-year pro career, Woods missed the cut in a major championship when he shot his second straight 76 on Friday. His 36-hole total of 152, three off the cut and 13 off the lead held by Steve Stricker (1-under 69), gave him a rare weekend off, just the fifth official cut he has missed in his pro career.

"It's not something you want to have happen," Woods said. "I've gone, I guess, a while without missing one. Unfortunately I missed this one, and hopefully I can win the British (Open next month)."

Woods had made 37 consecutive cuts in majors as a pro. His first was at the 1997 Masters, which was also the first of his 10 major titles.

In all, Woods had made 39 straights cuts in majors, dating to his amateur days in 1996. The last time he missed the cut at a major was at the 1996 Masters.

Woods, 30, who has 48 PGA Tour titles and had not played since the Masters in April, did not blame a lack of preparation or any emotional issues surrounding the death of his father, Earl, on May 3.

Asked about his emotional state after signing his scorecard, Woods said: "P-----. That pretty much sums it up right there. I thought I was playing well enough to shoot an under-par round, and I didn't do that."

Perhaps Woods was not being honest with himself.

During Thursday's opening round, it was apparent he was having issues hitting the ball off the tee. He managed to find just three of 14 fairways. On Friday, it wasn't much better. He hit only four. His greens in regulation also fell from 10 to eight.

"Yeah, you think about it, it's his first time back since his father passed away," said defending champion Michael Campbell, who played with Woods during the first two rounds and also missed the cut (75-77). "I mean, come on. He's actually very emotional right now. It's just one of those things that he is human, and it's going to be tough for him to come back.

"Toughest conditions in the world at a major championship, first time coming back after two months off, his father passing away. I mean, God, you've got to give him credit for actually turning up. That's one thing that I really admire about Tiger is that he wanted to come back just to play golf and get away."

Campbell, however, did notice that something was missing.

"Intensity is the word," he said. "He's pretty focused, but the intensity wasn't there as it normally is."

No excuses, Woods said.

"What's transpired off the golf course ... I don't know if it gives you a different type of perspective," he said. "But I don't care if you had what transpired in my life, recent or not, but poor execution is never going to feel very good."

Woods said that playing a tournament before the U.S. Open would not have made a difference because "I was not ready to play golf."

He also said that he felt good about his game coming in, having worked on it at home and in the practice rounds.

"(It's) more frustrating than anything else because I was hitting the ball really well," he said. "I struggled all week with getting the speed of these things (greens) because they were slower. The mind-set of a U.S. Open is really slick greens and these aren't. I struggled all week trying to hit the putts hard enough, and (Thursday) it bit me right at the start. Once I adjusted, it was too late. ... You have to make the adjustment and I didn't do that."

Woods has seen some impressive cut streaks come to an end in the past year.

He made the cut in 142 consecutive events to break the PGA Tour record of 113 held by Byron Nelson. His streak began at the 1998 Buick Invitational and ended with the 2005 Wachovia Championship. He missed at the Byron Nelson Championship a week later, then last fall at the Funai Classic at Disney World.

For his pro career, Woods has missed just four cuts, although the PGA Tour considers his withdrawal from the 1998 Pebble Beach Pro-Am a missed cut.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 00:50:09]