PINEHURST, N.C. — Tiger Woods’ latest major championship has come to a premature end yet again.
The 47-year-old Woods spent Friday afternoon fighting for his U.S. Open life at Pinehurst No. 2, chasing the cutline.
And, in the end, he lost the race.
Woods, who shot a 4-over-par 74 in Thursday’s opening round, managed only a 3-over-par 73 on Friday to finish 7-over par and miss the cut by two shots.
He missed the cut at last month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he once won, and finished 60th and last among the players who made the cut at the Masters in April.
Woods withdrew from his only other tournament this season, the Genesis Invitational.
Barring any unforeseen change in his schedule, Woods will play only one more tournament this season — the British Open next month at Royal Troon, the site of his first Open Championship in 1997.
“In order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut,” Woods said afterward. “I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it certainly is frustrating. I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out.
“[It’s] frustrating. I’m not here for the weekend. Granted, my ball-striking and felt like my putting was good enough to be in contention, and I’m not. Yes, it is frustrating because I’m not here to have a chance to win on the weekend.’’
This week was a similar story for Woods, who simply doesn’t look like he can keep up with the younger generation.
He had plenty of chances on the back nine Friday, and failed make a birdie putt time after time.
Since his historic 2019 victory at the Masters, Woods has posted only one top-10 and has spent all of the tournaments since far from contention.
Woods fell to 6-over-par on Friday with a bogey on No. 12 and that put him one shot outside the projected cutline.
His most frustrating moment came on the 15th hole, where he began to walk in what looked like a birdie putt and it rimmed out nearly 360 degrees.
Had that putt dropped, it would have gotten Woods to 5-over, on the cutline.
Woods, knowing he needed at least one birdie down the stretch to possibly make the cut, slumped over with his hands on his knees.
“Yeah, 15 hurt,” Woods said. “That was a sweet little 7-iron in there and a good putt, high-side lip. If I make that putt, it flips the momentum and I’m looking pretty good on the last three holes.
“Instead, I’m on the wrong side of the cut line and having to do something good on the last three holes. It was probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today. I hit a lot of good shots that just didn’t quite go my way, or I hit good putts, and then I put myself in a couple bad spots with some bad lag putts.’’
He promptly bogeyed the par-4 16th hole to fall to 7-over and that essentially ended his chances of playing on the weekend.
Woods once made a record 142 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour, a record that will likely never be broken.
He, too, is tied with Jack Nicklaus with 39 consecutive cuts in major championships.
In Woods’ past six majors, he’s made only one cut — at this year’s Masters. In the others, he has two withdrawals and three missed cuts.
Since his 2019 Masters win, his best finish in a major is a tie for 21st in the 2019 U.S. Open.
When asked if he would try to play more tournament to become sharper, Woods said, “I’ve only got one more tournament this season. I don’t think even if I win the British Open I’ll be in the [FedExCup] Playoffs. Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”
That would almost certainly be his own Hero World Challenge in December in the Bahamas, which has been his pattern the past several years.
“As far as [this being] my last U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is,’’ Woods said. “It may or may not be.’’
