SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. _ Failure has its way of changing people, and so does adversity, and Tiger Woods has had his fair share of both. But as he stood at the lectern Friday afternoon, hand on his hip, acknowledging that he had fallen far short of his goal, it was clear one thing about him had not changed at all.
"Absolutely," he said, when asked if he thinks he can ever win a major again.
But why? After all, his decline has been precipitous. His golden boy status is forever tarnished by marital disputes and a DUI charge. His back has been cut open over and over and the discs there fused. He is 42 years old. It's been a decade since he's won his last major, and after his Friday morning, it appears likely he'll miss the cut line.
"Have you seen the way I've been swinging?" he said by way of answer, smiling the same wide Tiger Woods smile that once graced Wheaties boxes in grocery stores all over the country. "Our whole careers are pretty much measured (on) if we can win four times a year. One year, I did it three times."
Woods was right on a few counts. Yes, he's done this before. And no, it wasn't his drives that were the problem on Thursday and Friday at Shinnecock Hills; his putts were. He was 10-over 150 after shooting 78-72 over the two days. He and his group, which included Dustin Johnson, who led after Friday with a 4-under total and Justin Thomas (4-over), battled the cold and the wind and the very unexpected rain in the morning after starting on the back nine.
Woods managed to hit 79 percent of his fairways on Day 2, but only 50 percent of his greens in regulation. He had one double bogey _ on hole No. 1, the same place he earned the triple bogey on Thursday. Woods was actually 1-under for his first eight holes of the round before finding the bunker on 18, and finishing with the two-putt for bogey. That put him in an even rougher spot for his arch nemesis this tournament, Hole No. 1.
Woods hit the fairway off his drive, but found the rough on his second attempt; his pitch rolled back into the fringe and he eventually finished with a double-bogey six. Only two birdies on the last two holes of the day gave him at least an outside chance at the cut line.
"I'm not very happy with the way I played and the way I putted," Woods said. "I wanted to shoot something around 68, 67 ... I looked at is as kind of progressively putting myself back into position. I couldn't chase down the leaders right away. It was going to probably take me two-and-a-half, three rounds to do it. Unfortunately, I went the other way."
"You don't win major championships by kind of slapping all around the place and missing putts. You have to be on. And, you know, I've won ... I've won a few."
Everyone knows. That's not the question. The question is if he can win one again.
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