Tiger Woods Narrowly Makes Cut at Memorial Tournament After 4-over Round 2

Tiger Woods narrowly made the cut at the 2020 Memorial Tournament after a mistake-filled four-over 76 in the second round Friday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

Woods' struggles dropped him to three over for the event, which is where the cut line ultimately settled on Friday at Muirfield. He recorded three birdies, five bogeys and a double-bogey during Round 2. Tony Finau and Ryan Palmer are tied for the lead at nine-under par. 

The 15-time major champion appeared primed to make some noise this week early in his opening round. His iron play was fantastic en route to two birdies over his first three holes. There were few bright spots over the next 33 holes, though.

Any opportunity to build serious momentum Friday fell by the wayside because of his putting. He missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 11th and a three-foot par putt on the 13th after starting on the back nine.

Although Woods, who's won the Memorial a record five times, did make a birdie on the 12th in between those disappointing misses, he didn't shave another stroke off his score until his birdie on the par-five seventh. He'd dropped seven shots in between the birdies.

He added another birdie on the eighth hole before sinking a potentially clutch seven-foot par putt on the ninth to keep himself within range of making the weekend.

The Memorial marked his first PGA Tour start since February's Genesis Invitational.

"I've felt good about my training over the last few months, and I've gotten ready for this," he told reporters after the first round.

Woods' sloppy play Friday showed it's going to take a while before he reaches peak form, but the situation is complicated by the Tour's condensed schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 44-year-old fan favorite can't play as many tournaments, especially back-to-back events, as he did during his prime years, and he's likely going to base everything for the remainder of the season around making sure he's fresh for the three majors.

If he plays in the PGA Championship (Aug. 6-9), U.S. Open (Sept. 17-20) and the Masters (Nov. 12-15), where he'll be the defending champion, his appearances elsewhere will be extremely limited.

In turn, getting a couple more competitive rounds under his belt this week would be beneficial, even if he's not a serious threat to secure his record-setting 83rd career PGA Tour victory.