After a smooth and seemingly effortless opening round of 2-under 68, Tiger Woods couldn’t get anything to go his way Friday in his second trip around TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. After a late tee off alongside Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, Woods seemed to struggle for every small victory on the course. He ended the day with a 2-over 72.
He didn’t make his first birdie until No. 10, also the first hole where he dropped a legitimate putt.
Truly, Woods didn’t hole a putt outside of 3 feet on his front nine. This, a day after birdie conversions from 8, 32, 4, 14 and 12 feet in the first round.
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Instead, Woods made two bogeys on the front nine. They came at the par-3 third, where he missed a 10-footer after blasting out of the sand, and No. 9, where he was in both a fairway bunker and a greenside bunker.
In fact, Woods found himself in an inordinate amount of bunkers on Friday, and with poor results. He was zero for seven when it came to getting up-and-down from the sand.
Birdies on Nos. 10 and 16 were the highlight of the back nine, but also very necessary. After Woods bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15 – the latter coming off an approach blown over the back of the green – he found himself sitting on the cutline of 1 over.
The birdie at No. 16 was crucial in getting to the weekend.
By the time Woods was trudging through the final holes, his body language suggested both disappointment and fatigue in his lackluster play. Still, he’ll live to play two mores rounds.
