Woods bogeys 3 of last 4 holes, sits 1 shot back of projected cut
Tiger Woods will wait all Friday afternoon to see if he makes the cut at the Genesis Invitational after a tough finishing stretch resulted in a tumble down the leaderboard.
Woods bogeyed three of his final four holes in Round 2 to fall back to 1-over for the tournament, right around the projected cut at Riviera Country Club. It was a stark contrast to Thursday's opening round when the 15-time major champion completed three straight birdies for an electric finish.
The current projected cut from the PGA TOUR sits at even, but the highly accurate Data Golf projection gives players at 1-over a 75% chance of making the weekend following the wave of action in Los Angeles.
Currently projecting a scoring average of +0.8 for the afternoon wave (compared to +1.1 so far this morning). This is partly due to the weather forecast, partly due to the fact that Riviera typically doesn't play as hard as it did this morning. pic.twitter.com/q3oRDHIART
— data golf (@DataGolf) February 17, 2023
Woods' ball-striking was excellent Friday, but a very cold putter saw him miss three putts from inside 8 feet on his first four holes. A near-ace on the par-3 14th got his round on track, and he made the turn to sit at even for the day and 2-under for the event.
Opening his closing side with five straight pars placed him on the green at the tricky par-3 6th - one of the iconic holes at Riviera due to the bunker in the middle of the green. Woods' tee shot put him in a near-impossible situation. With the bunker directly between his ball on the front of the green and the pin, the 15-time major champion shockingly putted his ball into the bunker, leading to a bogey.
Two bogeys on the final two holes led him to finish with a 3-over 74, making for a nervous few hours on Friday afternoon as he awaits his fate. A made cut would be Woods' first on the TOUR since the PGA Championship last May - an event he eventually withdrew from after Round 3 due to pain in his leg.
While most missed cuts result in an early trip home, Woods will remain in Los Angeles regardless of whether he's playing the weekend or not. The 82-time winner on TOUR is also the tournament host at Riviera and will be on hand Sunday to present the trophy to the victor.