By John Boyette
Chronicle Staff

Missing the cut didn't figure into Tiger Woods' equation at this week's Masters Tournament.

But when the 1997 champion three-putted No. 11 and dunked his tee shot in Rae's Creek for a double bogey on No. 12, things didn't look too promising.

Fortunately for Woods, he recovered to play the last six holes 3-under and finish at even par through 36 holes. That score was comfortably inside the cut, which fell at 4-over 148.

A total of 56 golfers survived for the final two rounds, including four amateurs. Among those missing the cut were former Masters champions Fuzzy Zoeller, Charles Coody, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Gary Player, Tommy Aaron and Arnold Palmer.

The cut was just under the tournament average of 148.88, with the lowest cut of 145 occurring three times and the highest cut coming at 154 in 1982.

Four of the six amateurs -- Tom McKnight, Sergio Garcia, Trevor Immelman and Matt Kuchar -- will play this weekend. Regarded as one of the strongest amateur contingents in years, the group was led by McKnight and Garcia, each of whom finished 3-over.

All three of last year's major winners survived. U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen came in at 5-under par and is three strokes off the lead. Mark O'Meara, who won both the Masters and British Open a year ago, survived despite a 76 Friday that left him 2-over. And Vijay Singh, who missed the Masters cut a year ago but rebounded to win the PGA Championship, squeaked in with a 4-over total of 148.

``My putting is very awful right now,'' Singh said. ``I still feel like I'm going to make everything, but you're always worried about where you don't want to hit it. It makes you very defensive.''

The struggles of former champions Ballesteros (1980, '83) and Faldo (1989, '90 and '96) continued Friday. Ballesteros shot a pair of 78s to finish at 156, and Faldo rebounded with a 73 in the second round to go with his 80 on Thursday.

Zoeller, the 1979 winner on his first try, may be haunted by a short putt he missed on the 18th hole in the first round. After a 90-minute delay, Zoeller went out to the finishing hole and missed a short putt for birdie. He wound up missing the cut by a stroke.

And Zoeller's playing partner, Jumbo Ozaki, ballooned to a 79 on Friday to miss the cut by two shots. The Japanese star had shared the lead for a while Thursday after making an eagle on the par-4 10th.

But Woods, considered a favorite to win this week along with David Duval (71-74 -- 145), exhibited patience after reaching 3-over par early on the back nine.

``It was a good shot,'' Woods said of the 8-iron on the 12th that splashed about halfway across Rae's Creek. ``The wind cropped up, and it ballooned on me.''

Trailing leader Jose Maria Olazabal by eight shots, Woods isn't ready to push the panic button.

``Eight shots is not a whole lot, especially at Augusta,'' he said. ``You gotta play solid golf.''