By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — On a day when Tiger Woods was at one point
in danger of missing the cut, he salvaged an up-and-down round with
back-to-birdies on his final two holes to shoot a 2-under 68.
“It was a grind,” said Woods, who will enter the weekend 1 under for
the tournament. “I got it going, lost it, got it going, lost it and got
it going.
“I didn’t have it, but I scored and that’s something I can take out of it.”
On a relatively benign morning at PGA National, Woods struggled early
to find any rhythm. Starting on the back nine, Woods parred his first
three holes before going birdie-bogey over the next two. He added
another birdie on the par-4 16th but missed a birdie opportunity from
just outside 7 feet on the par-5 18th.
For the week, Woods has yet to make a birdie on either of the par-5s
at PGA National and Friday he hit just eight fairways and 10 greens in
regulation.
Things took a turn for the worse for Woods on the par-3 fifth, where
Woods pulled his tee shot left and into the water before making
double-bogey to fall outside the cut.
On his final two holes, however, Woods hit it to 6 feet and 11 feet,
respectively, and did something he’s struggled to do all week: Make
putts when he’s needed them.
“I didn’t swing the club worth a darn all day,” Woods said. “But I
figured something out the last four holes after my tee shot on No. 6.
“I putted much better and got the putts to the hole and that was one of the goals.”
Part of that stemmed from the nearly 40 minutes Woods spent working
on his posture while putting with coach Sean Foley following his opening
round.
“It’s certainly a lot less stressful if you’re striping it all day,”
Woods continued. “But when you’re not feeling good on shots you have to
manage a score.”
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Tiger Woods