Tiger Woods' return to the PGA Championship turned sour as he carded a disappointing six-over-par 77 in the second round, leaving the 15-time major winner well off the projected cut line in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, in his first tournament since the Masters.
Despite his milestone achievement at the Masters last month with his 24th consecutive made cut at a major, Woods found himself seven over par through 36 holes at Valhalla Golf Club, with the projected cut at -1 when play was suspended due to darkness on Friday.
This setback adds to Woods' challenges, as the former world No. 1 has maintained a limited competition schedule following a serious car crash in 2021 and has struggled to regain his form.
"I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments, and not a whole lot of tournaments on my schedule either," said Woods. "Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for (the U.S. Open at) Pinehurst."
His second round turned disastrous almost immediately, as he had a triple bogey on the second and fourth holes and a bogey on three.
Any momentum he might have salvaged from birdies on the seventh and eighth holes evaporated after a pair of flubbed putts led to bogeys on the 11th and 12th, though he ended the day on a sweeter note, with a birdie on the par-five 18th.
"I got off to a bad start, and the rough grabbed me at two," Woods told reporters.
"Just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. And I just kept making them. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately, the damage was done early."
The tournament had its upsides for Woods, who said he was able to play more comfortably than he had before.
"Physically, yes, I am better than I was a month ago," he said. "I still have more ways to go, lots of improvement to go physically, and hopefully my team and I can get that done pre-Pinehurst and going into it."
