The day after an astonishing first lap, for his return to the greens after seven months of absence, Tiger Woods, betrayed by his putt much more than by his physique, faltered during the second round on Friday, at the risk of missing the cut from the Genesis Invitational.
The grimace obviously did not hide the disappointment in the Super star of golf, to 15 Grand Slam titles, who dreams of becoming, alone, the most successful player in the history of the USPGA. A status he currently shares with Sam Snead, co-holder of the record for most wins (82).
Because the 47-year-old American could well be eliminated after just two rounds. It would be the seventh time in now 258 tournaments played.
And even if he would be drafted in extremis, he seems with his total of +1 too far from the provisional leader, Keith Mitchell (-9) and his runner-up Collin Morikawa (-8), to be able to play the spoilsports.
But if there’s a positive lesson to be learned, it’s that his body held its own on the demanding Riviera Country Club course. In particular his right leg bruised by numerous fractures, after the serious road accident which occurred two years earlier, on a road in Los Angeles, not far from Pacific Palisades, where this event of the North American circuit (PGA) is organized. he sponsors but has never won yet.
Thursday, after 18 holes, he had done everything to ensure that his recovery was optimal, with “ice and treatment non-stop, all night long”.
“Today, it’s not my body that bothered me, I just hurt putted “, he breathed out of spite, at the end of this second round indeed very complicated, finished with a score of 74, three strokes above the byand which caused it to slip beyond the limit of the cut set to 0.
Disappointment and apologies
Party in the last nine holes with, as the day before, the world number two Rory McIlroy and his friend Justin Thomas, Woods first committed two bogeys consecutive to the 12th and 13the holes, which brought it back to 0.
But he was able to react immediately by placing his first birdie from day to 14e. Then a second at hole 17, where the day before, he had finished very strongly, with three birdies successful at the last three holes. This time, he didn’t go far to 16e and 18e holes, where he is also comfortable.
The second part of the course hardly left him the opportunity to shine. He even finished badly, conceding three more bogeys on its last four holes at the sixth, eighth and ninth. On the latter, his ball rolled over the edge before coming out, otherwise he would have ensured the par and certainly his maintenance in the tournament.
“I probably should have finished better, with five or six shots that weren’t that difficult. I could also have had a great start and I didn’t. And then halfway through, I could have turned the situation around a bit and I didn’t either, ”he summed up.
Already disappointed with his performance, Woods also had to apologize for his prank the day before when he gave a tampon to his friend Justin Thomas, earning criticism in the media and on social networks.
“If I offended anyone in any way, I’m sorry. It was not my intention. It’s just that we joke with each other all the time. It was just a joke between friends for fun and it obviously didn’t go down that way,” he said.