Tiger Woods, his game imploding with every wayward shot, missed the cut for only the sixth time as a professional on Friday after a woeful second round of 79 at the Quail Hollow championship.
The world No. 1 cast a forlorn figure as he trudged off the course after limping to the halfway stage at nine-over-par, eight shots off the cut-off line following his opening round of 74.
Woods, competing in only his second tournament after a self-imposed break following revelations about his private life, finished with a nine-over total of 153, the worst 36-hole score of his career.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The inept performance prompted questions about whether distractions in his private life were taking their toll, but Woods said they were not to blame.
“Does it test you? Yes, of course it does,” he told reporters. “Is that any excuse? No, because I’m out there and I have the same opportunity as everybody else here in this field to shoot a good number, and I didn’t do that.”
As Woods struggled, many of his main rivals, including US Masters champion Phil Mickelson, ripped up the course on a perfect spring day.
It was Billy Mayfair, however, who quietly took the lead, carving out a second successive four-under 68 in front of a handful of spectators on the other side of the course away from Woods’s drama.
“I played real well today,” the American told reporters after posting an eight-under total of 136 to finish a stroke ahead of Argentine Angel Cabrera. “I’m rolling the rock pretty good and I love being in contention. I made a lot of good putts, drove the ball well.”
Last year’s Masters champion Cabrera, partnered with Woods, shot a sparkling 67 to finish a stroke above a foursome including Mickelson.
However, his performance was overshadowed by the almost-unimaginable showing by Woods, whose missed cut was his first since last year’s British Open and his first on home soil since the 2006 US Open.
Woods at times looked like a weekend hacker as his game unraveled on the back nine.
There were already some worrying signs as he went through the first nine holes in even par with three birdies canceled out by three bogeys, but few could have expected what was to unfold.
He bogeyed the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to suddenly drop back to five-over-par. He stopped the bleeding with a par at the 13th before making a double-bogey at the 14th when he pitched over the green and into the water.
“At that point it was pretty much out of reach and I was just trying to stay out of Angel’s way,” Woods said.
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