Tiger Woods faces fight to make Masters cut as Max Homa takes outright lead

By Sports Desk April 12, 2024

Tiger Woods was battling to make a record 24th consecutive cut in the Masters on another windswept day at Augusta National.

Woods was one of 27 players unable to complete their first rounds on Thursday following a lengthy weather delay, the 15-time major winner covering his first 13 holes in one under par.

Play resumed at 0750 local time (1250BST) on Friday and Woods bogeyed the 14th following a clumsy chip from short of the green before scrambling for par on the 15th after another misjudged approach.

Woods then left birdie putts on the 16th and 17th short of the hole before dropping a shot on the last after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

That gave the 48-year-old an opening 73 and just 49 minutes to rest, refuel or practise before he got his second round got under way with two pars and a birdie on the third.

Woods bogeyed the par-three fourth after missing the green with his approach and dropped another shot on the fifth after finding a bunker off the tee but made amends in style by chipping in for birdie on the sixth.

A rollercoaster round continued with a bogey on the seventh and a birdie on the par-five eighth, followed by just a third par of the round on the ninth after hitting his approach into the spectators right of the green.

At one over par Woods was two shots inside the early projected cut line, while playing partner Max Homa found himself in the outright lead after an early stumble from Bryson DeChambeau.

Homa, who had birdied the 16th and 17th on his way to completing an opening 67, birdied the second and fourth in round two to improve to seven under par, with DeChambeau following three pars with a bogey on the fourth.

Former champion Jordan Spieth was heading for just his second missed cut in 11 Masters appearances after running up a quadruple-bogey nine on the 15th.

Spieth hit his third shot long, chipped back across the green into the water and, after taking a penalty drop, hit his sixth shot over the green once more.

From there the 2015 winner three-putted and, after eventually signing for an opening 79, remained seven over par midway through his second round.

Open champion Brian Harman had fared even worse, dropping seven shots in the last three holes to post an opening 81.

Related items

  • PGA Championship: Morikawa and Schauffele share lead ahead of final round PGA Championship: Morikawa and Schauffele share lead ahead of final round

    Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele are joint leaders at the PGA Championship, with a host of contenders still in with a chance of triumphing going into the final round.

    Schauffele crucially recovered from a double-bogey on 15 to birdie his last two holes on Saturday. That meant he finished on 15 under, carding a second successive 68.

    Morikawa went one better with a four-under 67, so sits in a share of the lead in pursuit of his third major title, having recovered impressively from a bogey on two to produce a blemish-free round from there.

    Sahith Theegala is only one behind the leaders at Valhalla Golf Club, while Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland are only two off the lead.

    Lowry stormed into contention as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round in Kentucky.

    The Irishman carded nine birdies and no bogeys to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.

    Lowry had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches on 18, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.

    It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.

    Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose are also in striking distance, as they sit three shots off the pace after producing impressive rounds of 66 and 64 respectively.

    Rory McIlroy, though, is seven shots behind Morikawa and Schauffele at eight under, level with Jordan Spieth.

    And, after a tumultuous week, world number one Scottie Scheffler looks to have slipped out of contention after posting a two-over 73. He is on seven under in a tie for 24th position.

    As for Schauffele, he has had 12 top-10 finishes at majors, including two second-place and two third-place finishes. He has lead since round one and will now look to finish the job on Sunday.

    "Felt like I've had to work for a lot of my birdies the last two days," he said after round three. 

    "Haven't been able to make many putts. I feel like I'm still hitting the ball. Feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty nice. 

    "If I can just get the putter going a little bit, it should free me up."

  • PGA Championship: Lowry in contention with record-equalling round PGA Championship: Lowry in contention with record-equalling round

    Shane Lowry stormed into contention for the PGA Championship as he equalled the lowest round in men's major history during a sensational third round at Valhalla.

    Lowry carded nine birdies and no bogeys on Saturday to set a new career low and jump to 13 under after being eight strokes off the lead at the halfway stage.

    The Irishman had the opportunity to produce the first '61 round' in a men's major history but missed the hole by mere inches, settling for a record-equalling 62 instead.

    It is just the fifth time a 62 has been carded at a major, with Xander Schauffele doing it for the second time on the first day at Valhalla.

    Rickie Fowler had previously done it in round one of the 2023 US Open along with Schauffele, while Branden Grace was the first to do it at The Open in 2017.

    "I just went out there with the hope of trying to get myself towards double digits," he told Sky Sports.

    "I thought if I could get myself to 10 under today, I could give myself a chance going into tomorrow. I went out and got off to a great start, rolling putts in and felt great and just kept going. I enjoyed it. Myself and Justin Rose, we were great out there and just enjoyed every minute of it.

    "It’s pretty cool to do something like this, but there is a lot more to do tomorrow."                                        

    Rose played a 64 to finish seven under on the round and moves to 12 under for the tournament.

    Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy shot a three-under 68 to move to eight under par in the Championship, and reigning champion Brooks Koepka is now on four under after a 74.

    Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa were among the later starters in Kentucky.

  • PGA Championship: Woods determined to 'keep fighting' after missing cut at Valhalla PGA Championship: Woods determined to 'keep fighting' after missing cut at Valhalla

    Tiger Woods vowed he would "keep fighting" after missing the cut at this year's PGA Championship.

    The four-time champion will be absent from the weekend at the second major of the season, having carded rounds of 72 and 77 in Valhalla.

    Woods concluded his opening round with a bogey-bogey finish, while he hit two triple-bogeys in the first four holes of his second round - doing so multiple times in a single round at a major for the first time.

    The 48-year-old, who finished seven over par and 19 strokes behind halfway leader Xander Schauffele, was making his first appearance on the PGA Tour since last month's Masters, and knows he needs to improve ahead of the US Open at Pinehurst in four weeks' time.

    When asked about his next steps, the 15-time major champion responded: "Just keep fighting. Keep the pedal on, keep fighting, keep grinding, keep working hard at posting the best score that I can possibly post. That's all I can do.

    "I got off to a bad start [in the second round] and the rough grabbed me at [the second hole]. I compounded the problem there at [the fourth].

    "[I] just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately, the damage was done early.

    "I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments. Hopefully, everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst."

     

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.