For all intents and purposes, Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open is over.
The 14-time major champion continued his implosion at Shinnecock Hills with a second-round 72 on Friday, closing with two consecutive birdies to bring his two-day total to 10-over. Even if the afternoon wave of players shoots high scores, Woods remains on the outside of an early projected cut line around 8-over.
“I don’t think you can be too happy and too excited about 10-over par,” Woods said.
Woods teed off on his first hole, No. 10, and made a birdie in the morning rain. Despite the gloomy weather, and despite Woods’ awful-looking first-round 78, there was optimism in the air. He then traded a bogey at 14 with a birdie at the par-5 16th, and then bogeyed 18 to make the turn at even-par for the round.
But Woods could never keep any momentum going. He made a double at No. 1 — where he made a triple to start his tournament Thursday afternoon — and followed it up with two more bogeys to fall to 12-over. It looked pretty bad at that moment before he managed a small bit of redemption with birdies at Nos. 8 and 9.
“I finally made a putt — or two,” he said. “I gave myself some good looks, but I hadn’t made anything the last couple days. Consequently, I put myself behind the 8-ball early on.”
The 42-year-old Woods hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2013 and hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. After back surgeries and personal problems, Woods didn’t play in a major in 2016 or 2017, but came back at this year’s Masters, where he finished tied for 32nd.
But his first U.S. Open since 2015 didn’t turn out the way he wanted it to.
“They’re the hardest fields and these are the hardest setups,” he said of the majors. “They’re meant to be testers. You don’t win a major championship by slapping it around all over the place and not making putts. You have to be on.”
Woods’ round was in stark contrast to that of his playing partner, Dustin Johnson, who was doing what he could to run away with his second U.S. Open after taking this tournament at Oakmont in 2016. Johnson played a nearly flawless round, making only one bogey en route to a 3-under 67, getting him to 4-under for the championship and a healthy three-shot lead as he went for a leisurely Southampton afternoon.
When Johnson rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 7, coming down the hill on the treacherous Redan green, the crowd went wild, and Woods just shook his head in admiration.
“Dustin was in complete control of what he’s doing. He’s hitting the ball so flush and so solid,” Woods said. “Every putt looked like it was going to go in, even if it didn’t.”
The best round of the tournament was put up early by Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who made six birdies en route to a 4-under 66. It got Fleetwood to plus-1 for the tournament.
“We’ll take that and run,” Fleetwood said, “and get out of here.”
