You didn’t really need to see a shot Tiger Woods hit a shot to know what kind of day he was having in the second round of the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. You didn’t need to see his scorecard, either. You just had to see his face. The look of frustration was there, from the very first hole when he missed a 7-footer for birdie to when he holed out at the last for 2-over 72.
It was a struggle, mostly with his putter, occassionally with his irons. He did fight his game enough to sneak into the weekend — for a while there on the back nine it looked like he might be watching the action Saturday and Sunday.
Here is how it all went down. Full warning: You’ll see a theme emerge in a hurry — bad, bad putting.
No. 1: Par 4, 393 Yards
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A wasted chance at the first for Tiger Woods. A perfect drive, a controlled wedge shot from 88 yards left him a 7-footer for birdie. The new putter in the bag let him down. Missed left on a putt that never had a chance. Par to start is usually acceptable, except when it comes like that.
Score: Par
Total for the day: Even
Score for the championship: 2 under
No. 2: Par 4, 466 Yards
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First missed fairway for Tiger Woods, who was off by a few steps at the second hole. Will this be a theme again, as it was in the first round? As he did often on Thursday, Woods scrambled his way around and walks off with a par.
Score: Par
Total for the day: Even
Score for the championship: 2 under
No. 3: Par 3, 185 Yards
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Tiger Woods with a bogey at the third. His tee shot at the par 3 got caught up in the breeze and plummeted into the bunker. He couldn’t get up-and-down and dropped his first shot to fall back to 1 under. That’s why this round is interesting, because he is straddling that line of trying to put himself in position to contend but also trying to avoid messing with the cut.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 4: Par 5, 607 Yards
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A par for Tiger Woods at the fourth hole. Yeah, so, no big deal, right? Except it was a par 5 and it came after he striped a drive into the middle of the fairway. Those are holes that demand birdies if you want to play the weekend and be in the conversation.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 5: Par 4, 436 Yards
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Another missed chance for Tiger Woods at the fifth hole, when a 10-footer for birdie slides by. He made everything he looked at in the first round. He’s made nothing through five holes in the second.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 6: Par 4, 472 Yards
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A nothing-to-see here par Tiger Woods at the sixth. Solid drive. Conservative iron approach to the center of the green. Painless two-putt. Important hole coming up at No. 7. It’s a birdie hole. Then come the two monsters at Nos. 8 and 9.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 7: Par 4, 340 Yards
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Tiger Woods cannot get anything going. Another par, this time at the short seventh. Now, he heads to the two holes that could define his round: Nos. 8 and 9. While he has probably been disappointed by all these pars so far, he’d take two more and happily move on to the second nine.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 8: Par 3, 251 Yards
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OK, so par at No. 8 isn’t bad. Tiger Woods’ reaction the moment his putter made contact with the 30-footer for birdie? Well, that’s a problem. It cannot be overstated just how unhappy he is with his putting right now.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 9: Par 4, 515 Yards
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Bunker off the tee at the ninth for Tiger Woods. Bunker on the second shot. Misses another putt, this time from 15 feet for a bogey that changes the mood for this back nine. Now at even par for the tournament, it’s about assuring a spot on the weekend more than getting into contention.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even
No. 10: Par 5, 562 Yards
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Finally, Tiger Woods made a putt longer than 3 feet. At the par-5 10th hole, when he desperately need a birdie, he got one, rolling in a 10-footer to get to 1 under. Maybe that just gives him breathing room for the cut, or maybe that pushes him for a strong back nine.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 11: Par 3, 200 Yards
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A par at the 11th for Tiger Woods as his birdie putt from 30 feet takes a look at the hole before missing on the high side. The difference with this one was he got it to the hole. He’s been short all day. That actually looked like a confident stroke.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 12: Par 4, 494 Yards
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Tiger Woods works his way to a par at the difficult 12th. One of those holes in which you happily write down a 4 on the card and move on.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 1 over
Score for the championship: 1 under
No. 13: Par 4, 472 Yards
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Tiger Woods thought he hit a good one into 13. He went flag hunting, for sure. But the ball came up short, bounced in the bunker and Woods tossed his club up in the air in frustration. It’s been that kind of round. Leads to another bogey and back to even par.
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Woods, McIlroy and Thomas was supposed to be the most exciting group of the week. They all step to the 14th tee with legitimate cut concerns.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even
No. 14: Par 4, 470 Yards
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Scrambling again, Tiger Woods saves par at the 14th. He stays at even, one better than the cut line. A bogey there and he would have given himself no room for error coming down the stretch.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even
No. 15: Par 4, 401 Yards
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This is never a good reaction to a golf shot: “Where’d it go?” That was Tiger Woods’ reaction to his approach to 15. Well, Tiger, it went long, buried itself in the greenside rough and led to another bogey. At 1 over, another mistake coming in and he’ll be watching this weekend.
Score: Bogey
Total for the day: 3 over
Score for the championship: 1 over
No. 16: Par 4, 336 Yards
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Tiger Woods with a breathing-room birdie at the 16th. It moves him to even, one shot above the current 1 over cut line. When he needed to make a putt, he made it.
Score: Birdie
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even
No. 17: Par 3, 171 Yards
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One final hole, one final missed putt. Tiger Woods could not convert from 15 feet at the last. So he closes with par to shoot 2-over 72 to put him at even par the PGA Championship. He’s around for the weekend, eight shots behind leader Li Haotong.
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even
No. 18: Par 4, 480 Yards
Score: Par
Total for the day: 2 over
Score for the championship: Even