Tiger Woods: Dissecting Return at Frys.com Open, Another Missed Cut Looms

In his first action after a two-month layoff, Tiger Woods is in danger of missing the cut in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career.

He played Thursday in a group with 2010 Open Champ Louis Oosthuizen and the top collegiate golfer, UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay.

Woods struggled mightily at the CordeValle Golf Club. His driving—and most of all his putting—were his undoing today, as he shot a two-over 73 and is six shots back at the Frys.com Open. 

He made two birdies, 13 pars, two bogeys and one double-bogey. Let's see a recap of how his day on the course went down.

Hole No. 1 (Par-Four, 422 Yards)

Woods started the day with a beautiful 279-yard drive down the center of the fairway. He then left his second-shot approach within three-and-a-half feet of the hole, making the birdie putt right after. At this point, he was off to a promising start at one-under.

Hole No. 2 (Par-Four, 444 Yards)

On this hole, we got a glimpse of things to come. Woods found the sand with his first three shots.

The drive went to the bunker in the middle of the right side of the fairway. Then his second shot went to the right green-side bunker, and his sand-save attempt was flopped back into the bunker, 13 yards away from the hole.

His fourth shot was left just three feet from the hole, and he made the putt for bogey right after. He was back at even-par.

Hole No. 3 (Par-Three, 230 Yards)

Woods' woes continued on this hole. His tee shot was off to the left rough, 15 yards from the hole. His second shot was left just three feet from the hole. I know what you're thinking: gimme putt. 

But he missed it, leaving it just inches from the hole, making his second consecutive bogey. He was at one-over.

Holes No. 4 through 11

Woods made par through all these holes, but it was clear that accuracy was not on his game today. 

On his drives, he missed the fairway on the fourth, eight and ninth holes, and found the bunker on the sixth and 10th holes.  

He also failed to reach the greens-in-regulation at four of those holes. He remained at one-over up to this point.

Hole No. 12 (Par-Five, 605 Yards)

This was the low-point of the day for Woods.

He missed the fairway out of the tee to the left rough. His second shot went way left to the hazard, and he was forced to take a penalty drop.

Woods then proceeded to lay up on his fourth shot, leaving his shot in the middle of the fairway, 114 yards from the hole. His approach was on the green but just over 40 feet to the right of the hole.

His missed way right of the hole with the first putt, leaving the ball six feet away from the hole. He proceeded to sink his next putt and fell to three-over.

Holes No. 13 and 14

Woods made par on both holes. On the 14th hole, he missed both the fairway and the green-in-regulation, but he was still able to save par and remain at three-over.

Hole No. 15 (Par-Five, 568 Yards)

This hole ranked as the second easiest hole all day, and Woods was able to take advantage of it. He hit his drive to the left side of the fairway and almost reached the green in two, leaving his second shot just a few feet from the green.

His third shot was a few feet from the hole; he then made the birdie putt for his second birdie of the day. He was now at two-over.

Holes No. 16 through 18

Woods was not able to make another birdie the rest of the way. After a beautifully played 15th hole, he overshot the green on the par-three 16th, but he was still able to save par on it.

His struggles with the putter didn't allow him to capitalize on the 17th and 18th holes, which ranked third and fourth easiest all day. He was able to reach the green on his second shot on both, and had makable birdie putts, but he two-putted each time.

Summary

Woods hit too many wayward drives and was horrible with his putting today. When you take a look and see that he took 27 putts, you have to take into consideration that he just hit half of his GIRs (nine) and fairways (seven). 

He is T86 at this moment and must find an answer to his driving and putting woes pronto, or he will have an early flight to Florida on Saturday—if he doesn't take a chartered flight on Friday night. 

Brendan Steele, Briny Baird, Garrett Willis and Matt Bettencourt are atop the crowded leaderboard at four-under-par 67. 

Steele posted five birdies on the back nine after bogeying the sixth, while Baird scored four birdies and holed an excellent 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole to remain tied for the lead.

Willis was sitting at five-under before he missed a 25-foot par putt on the 18th for a bogey, falling into a three-way share of the lead.

Bettencourt, meanwhile, was helped by making an eagle on the par-five 15th. He reached the green on his second shot and sank the eight-foot eagle putt. 

Other notables: Paul Casey had a share of the lead after making his fourth birdie at the 10th. But three straight bogeys starting on the 13th hole, and an additional one on the 18th—after having made birdie at the 16th—dropped him back to one-under.

Troy Matteson, who won here in 2009, carded a three-under 68, while Ernie Els and last weekend's winner, Kevin Na, finished with a two-under-par 69. 

Also, UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay, the nation's top collegiate golfer, shot a two-under while playing alongside Woods. He looked like a polished pro out there and is sitting just two shots off the lead.

The action resumes tomorrow, and so far it is not looking good for Mr. Woods—and Mr. Couples.

- Carlos Torres