Tiger Woods Shoots 72, Fails to Make Charge in 2nd Round at Memorial Tournament

Tiger Woods failed to make a significant Friday charge at the 2019 Memorial Tournament with an even-par 72 in the second round at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. 

Woods, who used a late surge Thursday to post a two-under first round, struggled with his iron play for the second straight day. He carded three birdies, one bogey and a double bogey in Round 2.

He walked off the course seven strokes behind leaders Martin Kaymer, Kyoung-hoon Lee and Troy Merritt as he attempts to secure his 82nd career PGA Tour victory, which would tie Sam Snead for the most in history.

Woods is making just his second start since winning The Masters in mid-April. He missed the cut in the PGA Championship two weeks ago after going a month without playing a competitive round.

The 14-time major champion hasn't showcased the same type of form he did at Augusta since his return from the break. He hit just 55.6 percent of the greens in regulation Thursday but said after the round he didn't feel far off from finding a groove.

"It was close to being easily a few more under par," he told reporters. "... It was soft enough; it was gettable. And I just didn't quite do it. I had a couple of loose irons. But look at the scores. They're all getting after it today. I was close to being out there with them."

Woods hit only 64.3 percent of the fairways and 61.1 percent of the greens in regulation Friday.

His worst hole of the day came after finding the fairway on the par-five 15th. His approach shot missed the green and he chunked two chips en route to a double bogey.

The 43-year-old Stanford product otherwise did a good job of limiting the damage, however. He grinded out a lot of pars to keep himself within striking distance in each of the first two rounds.

Woods still has a chance to capture the Memorial, an event he's already won a record five times, but he's likely going to need a super-low round either Saturday or Sunday to make it happen.

Any comeback bid would begin with better ball-striking, especially with his traditionally reliable irons.