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Close call Woods flirts with missing cut; makes it to weekend play
Updated: Saturday August 18, 2001 2:32 AM
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Tiger Woods was in trouble, the kind he's not supposed to be in. Lips pursed and a frown across his face, he walked off the 14th green after badly missing another birdie putt. On the 15th tee he turned to a cameraman and asked a question that would have been unthinkable only a few months earlier. "What's the cut going to be?" Two holes later, it no longer mattered. A pair of monster putts holed with the same steely determination that won Woods four straight major championships brought him back Friday from the brink of elimination in the PGA Championship he has won the past two years. Saved the embarrassment of watching on television this weekend, he'll play Saturday armed with the thought that he can still win. "Without a doubt," Woods said. "Low rounds can be had out there. I'll be one of the first going off in the morning. Hopefully I can take advantage of that."
If he is to have a chance, Woods will have to play much better than he has at the PGA, where the fans who normally cheer him wildly seemed as perplexed as Woods about his slump. "We still love you, Tiger," one woman called out as Woods struggled in the sweltering heat. Woods found the fairway only seven times off the tee and hit only 12 greens in regulation. Only some fine putting salvaged a round of 3-under 67 that looked a whole lot better on the scorecard than it did on the course. History, though, is on his side. The last time Woods had to rally to make the cut, with three birdies in the last five holes of the 1999 Buick Invitational, he shot 62-65 to win the tournament. He's even par and nine shots back. But, then again, he is Tiger Woods. "I never underestimate what Tiger Woods can do and what he can accomplish," Mark O'Meara said. The spectacle of golf's most dominant player struggling to make his 74th consecutive cut added some drama to a PGA led by a Japanese player in a cowboy hat, Shingo Katayama, and a PGA Tour journeyman glad to get some television time this weekend, David Toms. Woods hit shots right and left, cursed at his ball and had to dig it out from the Bermuda rough. Things got so bad on the fifth hole that he twice slammed his hand on his bag in disgust after finding a wayward tee shot in the rough near the 8th tee box. Swing problems have plagued Woods all summer, and it was evident again as he was forced to save par from off the green on the first three holes. He managed to scrape together birdies at the fifth and ninth holes, however, and was hovering around the projected cut at 1-over. "I just didn't hit the ball well," Woods said. "I don't like to play bad and I'm always trying. I can take great pride in the fact I can sleep at night knowing I tried hard." As hard as he tried, though, Woods kept mishitting shots. He dumped a sand wedge into a bunker on 11 for a bogey and was 2-over when he missed the birdie putt on 14. His agent was on the phone to a writer in the press room asking what he thought the cut would be. Woods was doing the same on the 15th tee when he spotted the cameraman. "I was told it was even par. I knew I had to make a couple of birdies coming in and no mistakes," Woods said. "I made two bombs." The first came from off the green on 15 after a poor shot on the par 3. Woods hit a putt that rammed into the back of the hole and dropped. He raised his putter but kept the steely look in his eyes as he went to pick it out of the hole. "When I hit the putt I said, 'Oh, I just hit it too hard. Just don't go in the water.' It slammed in the hole and it went in," Woods said. "I didn't show any emotion there because I felt embarrassed. I hit it way too hard." One hole later, he dropped a 30-footer and suddenly was back to even par. By the time he hit a 5-iron 219 yards to the 18th hole and 2-putted for par, he was in for the weekend. "Those were some tough holes and he had to make some birdies," playing partner David Duval said. "He did a great job of doing it." The night before, Woods had dinner with O'Meara and talked about what it would take to get him back in the tournament. They agreed 3-under on each side would put Woods in the hunt. He didn't manage that, and still has 56 players and nine shots between himself and the lead. Still, Woods was as proud as he was relieved while he stood sweating outside the clubhouse after signing his scorecard. "It seemed tougher trying to make the cut than winning a tournament," he said. "For some reason I've been there more times on the other side." Indeed he has. The last time Woods faced pressure like this in the PGA was when he went extra holes with Bob May last year to win his second straight PGA. That's not likely to happen again the erratic way Woods has played in the last three majors. But, as Duval noted, Woods' odds have already improved. "He's got no chance to win if he misses the cut."
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